


Denial

by VikingWoman



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler, First Kiss, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Marriage, Mild Language, Not Canon Compliant, Past Abuse, Past Lives, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:55:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 47,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VikingWoman/pseuds/VikingWoman
Summary: Seto Kaiba starts having dreams of his past lives though he'd never admit that's what is happening. One thing that is starting to stand out to him is in every life he has ended up with a woman that looks and act a lot like Joey Wheeler. He refuses to admit he's starting to feel for her.(Somewhat follows the story, characters only aged up a year or two. Tags will be added as the story goes on.)
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	1. Restless

Seto had been working hard at the company for the last few days on top of the work he was doing for school, though that was more of a joke for him. He already knew all of the work they were having them do in those classes his adopted father had made sure he knew everything ahead of the kids his age. He was well ahead of all the classes in school and he was ready to take the test for early graduation.  
He was so tired of wasting his time with the school and the rest of the students that were just wandering the halls, half of them with vacant looks on their faces.  
He was tired of the student sitting beside him in almost all of his classes, she usually sat with her chin held in her hand eyes starring off into space or doodling in her notebook. The teachers rarely called on her and it was rare she volunteered to answer questions, he was sure she couldn't be very bright. He tried to ignore her but sometimes he couldn't help that his eyes were drawn to her.  
Joey Wheeler, she always found ways to get under his skin and invade his thoughts unbidden. He would be working away at his computer finishing up the last details of his new dueling system and then the thought of her caramel eyes would flash through his mind.  
Then he would think of how soft her short blonde hair looked, that crooked grin that made him freeze in his tracks, and that light blush that would spread over her cheeks when he met her eyes.  
He was having that problem now. As he leaned over his computer working on what would be the finishing touches before he put the disks into production for testing, his mind kept going back to her. He had read the same paragraph over four or five times already just to double check the math, even though he had meant to be done with the whole paper by now.  
With a growl of anger he slammed the file closed rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. He sat like that for a few minutes just thinking long and hard while breathing slowly through his nose. He wanted her out of his head, he had to much work to do for this nonsense to still be getting to him.  
"Seto are you alright?" Mokuba asked from the doorway.  
Kaiba looked up to see his younger brother looking around the door to his office with a worried look on his face. He frowned slightly he didn't like worrying his younger brother without cause and this was so minor a worry he didn't want to waste anymore time on it. Looking up he gave his brother a smile gesturing for him to come into the room.  
Mokuba slowly walked towards the desk and sat down across from him.  
"Are you okay?" he repeated frowning.  
"I'm fine Mokuba." he assured him. "Just working too hard as usual."  
"Are you sure that's all, you seem like you're upset?" he said slowly.  
Kaiba stared at his brother briefly, he had never been able to lie to him even when they were small children. He looked down at the desk and sighed.  
"I think I'll just get some sleep and see how I feel in the morning." Kaiba said softly. "Goodnight Mokuba."  
"Goodnight." Mokuba said quietly as he walked by him.  
Kaiba stepped out of the office and started walking down the hall towards the large master bedroom that was his since their adopted father had died. He glanced back down the hall to see his brother standing in front of the door watching him, his eyes squinted with worry. He just gave him a final nod before stepping into the room.  
He didn't worry about turning on the other lights in the room turning on the single lamp beside his bed. He took off his royal purple coat tossing it into the chair beside his bed and then started removing his boots. Then he stripped the black turtle necks sweater over his head tossing it into the chair as well. He had laid out a pair of sweat pants onto his bed earlier in the day for when he was ready to get to sleep.  
Kaiba slid those over his narrow hips before sliding under the bed sheets laying on his side, it usually took him awhile to shut his mind off to get to sleep. Tonight it felt like it would be a fight just to stay awake if he wanted too...

Seto jerked awake with a sharp gasp his body covered in a cold sweat and he was taking gasping breaths, he had awakened from ....a nightmare. He was sure that must have been it, he had been dreaming about the dragon again. As he looked around the room his body jerked with a sharp realization, this wasn't his room at least not the one he fell asleep in.  
This wasn't his room in the Kaiba mansion, this was a room of sandstone and marble with sheer curtains hanging over the windows. There were carvings etched into the walls and torch sconces imbedded into the walls, he didn't recognize any of what he was seeing here. It was a strange place but at the same time it felt somehow familiar to him like he had been here before. The room was sparsely furnished though what few things he could see looked nice he supposed.  
Without thinking he stood up walking towards the open window that was more of a doorway to a balcony. He peered out the door looking over a city of sandstone and wood buildings lit only by firelight.  
This wasn't like the dreams he usually had, it felt so much more real like he was really there.  
Turning from the window he stalked to the entrance of his room looking out into the hall which was barely lit by the torches in the halls. He listened for any sound of other people walking these halls, he could here a faint sound down the hall to his right hand so he started following it.  
Kaiba came into a room that was barely lit by torches, a single woman stood in the room facing the wall opposite him her hands slowly painting something onto the wall. He paused in his steps in confusion, usually his servants were in their own beds by now unless he summoned them for something. He stood watching her for a few minutes as she moved down the side of the wall dipping a brush into a small jar.  
The woman turned to where he could see a bit more of her face. She had long dirty blonde hair that framed her face, caramel colored eyes that were flicking over the wall, and her skin had a deep tan to it the features sharp. She was wearing a white simple dress that came to just above her knees and hung off her shoulders leaving them bare so he could see the marking there that marked her as a servant.  
As Kaiba studied her for a brief moment he realized it was Joey Wheeler.  
He opened his mouth to call out to her "Katsu."  
His mind started to rebel, he hadn't said that and he wasn't the one controlling his body to move towards her.  
The girl looked up her eyes widened as she saw him, the brush dropping from her hands to the floor. She immediately hit her knees bowing to him keeping her eyes averted from him.  
"Master Seto, what can I do for you?" she asked quickly. "I didn't hear you call."  
"I didn't call for anyone." he said slowly looking over the wall. "Please stand there's no need for you to bow."  
She hesitated looking up at him and she picked up the brush slowly standing back up. She held the brush in both of her hands glancing over to the wall, he followed her eyes to see the figures she had painted again. He remembered that the wall had been nothing but fading paint before where the figures had once been, she had given them new life.  
"You did this?" he asked gesturing to the wall.  
"Yes, Master Seto." she whispered softly.  
"Has the Pharoah ordered this to be done?"  
"No, Master Seto."  
He looked down at her frowning, she had her eyes cast down to the floor and he wanted her to look back at him. He hesitated but then he reached out putting his fingers gently under her chin raising it to look up at him.  
Kaiba was mentally gritting his teeth against the action, he didn't want to touch her anymore than he wanted to touch Joey from school... He wanted to be in control of his own actions and not have to submit to this, he couldn't control himself. He couldn't even control what he was saying, he wanted to walk away from her to ignore her like he did at school. He was ready for this dream to be over so he could get Joey out of his mind.  
"You must be truly devoted to his majesty to take this task on for yourself." he said slowly.  
She gave a shy smile.  
Kaiba recalled that whoever was controlling him called her Katsu. He had to admit the resemblance to Joey was uncanny, this all had to be some figment of his imagination. He had to admit the way she smiled gave him a warm feeling in his chest, much like the one it gave him when he caught her eye before or after class.  
This is ridiculous, Kaiba thought.  
To his disdain he didn't wake up anytime soon, instead he had to sit through the whole evening listening to the two carry on as if they were old friends. They spoke until the light of dawn could be seen over the horizon and then broke apart to go their separate ways.  
By the end of the dream, he was laying back into the bed he had awakened in and once he fell asleep he was coming awake in his own bed. When he awoke it was to his large master bedroom in the mansion with a little bit of sunlight peeking past the closed curtains. He frowned rubbing his eyes, he hadn't had the restful sleep he had been hoping for.

Joey was one of the first students into class today the room still mostly vacant except for a few of the early risers. She took her seat setting her books out on the desk and her hand lingered on one of her sketch books, she tried to refrain from pulling it out in class. But class hadn't really started yet so she tried not to feel to guilty about opening it up to work.  
She heard her desk's neighbor take his seat and spared a glance over the cover of her book to give him a small nod of greeting, usually she didn't get much in return. When she looked at him today his blue eyes were focused solely on her.  
"Eh, morning rich boy." she said thrown off by his intense stare.  
"Good morning." he said tilting his head. "What are you working on?"  
Joey knew her eyes widened in shock, they never talked it was just the mostly unanswered greetings to each other.  
"Uh, just drawin'." she said shrugging her eyes darting back to her book.  
"Oh. Are you any good?"  
"I don' know."  
"Mind if I have a look then?"  
Joey stared at him frozen for a moment. The only people she had shown her art work to were her friends and that had been after they had shown she could trust them. Yugi had been the first person to see her drawings and he had been overjoyed that she had trusted him with them, he had praised her on them even. But that's what best friends did right build you up so you felt good about yourself? she had reasoned.  
Looking down at the half finished page she knew it didn't look like much but when she was done it was going to be a pencil sketch of Yugi, Tea, and Tristan. She had finished drawing Yugi and Tea; but was only part way done with Tristan.  
"If you'd rather I didn't see them-" Kaiba began turning to face the front.  
"No- I mean, yeah you can see." she said swallowing.   
She carefully handed him the book and he accepted it with just as much care. She watched him look at the page she had been on before he started flipping backwards through the book. His eyes flicked over the pages quickly as he turned through the book until he froze on one page.  
Joey could guess which one he had stopped on and she knew her face had probably started to go red. She should have known better then to give the book over to Kaiba, he had no doubt come to the drawings she had done of him. She had done quite a few different ones, not satisfied with the way she had him in the first ones. one was of him at his desk starring off into space, one was him at lunch sitting on his own like always, and then there had been one where he was looking over his duel monsters cards.  
She felt a need to defend herself before she was accused of spying but she bit down on her tongue, she hadn't meant to spy on him. He was just really interesting to draw and he stayed still for a really long time which helped out with the drawing.  
"When did you draw me?" he asked frowning a bit.  
"It's been awhile ago." she said vaguely rubbing her neck.  
Kaiba's cold blue eyes looked up at her and his face was an unreadable cold mask. She felt her face getting hot as she turned her head wanting to look away.  
"These are good." he said offering the book back to her.  
"Oh, thanks." she said grabbing the book.  
As she started to pull it away his grip tightened and he pulled back just enough to get her to look at him.  
"Do you paint?" he asked eyes narrowing.  
"Uh- well, I-" she stuttered.  
"Hey Joey is he giving you trouble?" a voice called.  
Kaiba let go of the book with a sigh turning away from her shaking his head.  
Joey stared at him for a moment before turning to look at Tristan who was standing in front of the two desks his mouth set in a frown as he stared at Kaiba.  
"It's all good Tristan." Joey assured him.  
Tristan snorted his eyes going over to Joey "Well alright. You coming to dinner tonight?"  
Joey's stomach did an involuntary growl and she gave a shy chuckle "Wouldn't miss it."  
Tristan nodded and walked back to his own desk.  
Joey could see Kaiba watching her out of the corner of her eye as she turned back to her book. The class room was almost full when she remembered she had never answered Kaiba.  
"Hey," she said quietly glancing at him "I meant to tell you that yeah I paint when I have the supplies available."  
Kaibe had only given a small nod as acknowledgement before his eyes cut back down to his book. He didn't try to speak to her again for the rest of the day which left Joey confused about the interaction.


	2. A Talk

They had all been going to hang out at Yugi's after school like usual but when they got there Grandpa Motou wasn't there. They had checked the entire store for him before the phone rang.  
Joey watched as Yugi lifted the phone to his ear and he listened for a few minutes to someone on the other end.  
"Kaiba! Wait what's happened to Grandpa?" Yugi cried out then looked at the phone. "Kaiba? Kaiba?"  
He looked at the phone worry written all over his face.  
"Yug' What happened?" Joey asked.  
"Kaiba says grandpa is with him and he's not well." Yugi said frowning. "I have to go figure out what's going on."  
"We'll go with you right guys?" Tea said nodding.  
"Right let's go." Tristan agreed.  
The four of them headed to the Kaiba offices where Yugi said the call had come from and made their way inside the building, they were pointed to the back of the building where the testing grounds for the project was going to be. They were told that Kaiba and an elderly gentleman had been heading back that way to see the newest project the company was about to start releasing in certain places in the city.  
They had just moved through a set of double doors into the room and that's where they saw Grandpa Motou laying on the ground moaning. Yugi and Tea rushed forward each grabbing one of his arms to turn him onto his back so they could see him better. He moaned and told Yugi it was his weak heart having one of his weakness spells.  
While they were on the ground checking on Grandpa, Kaiba stepped into the doorway directly across from the double doors the four had come through.  
"I guess your grandpa couldn't handle the realism of the holograms we've been working on." Kaiba said then slowly held up a card. "Shame that we dueled for such rare cards."  
He turned the card he was holding to reveal the Blue Eyes White Dragon, the card that had been Grandpa's favorite. While they all watched he took the ends of the card in his hands and then gave it a quick rip down the center. He released the card letting the two ripped pieces drift down to the floor.  
Joey watched as he and Yugi argued over his grandfather's health, how Kaiba had taken advantage of the man's weakness to get the card. Yugi said he doubted that Kaiba would fair as well against a healthy duelist, of course the rich boy accpeted the challenge saying he would beat him in nothing flat. Yugi took his grandpa's deck and started towards the doorway.  
Joey, Tristan, and Tea had agreed to take care of the old man until their friend could meet them at the hospital.  
On the way out with paramedics that got there in only a few more minutes Joey paused looking back to the door. She could see both of the fragments of card Kaiba had torn and she went back snatching both of them up. The card could never be used in a duel again but from what Grandpa had told them that hadn't been the reason behind his having the card. He might still enjoy having the card and could repair it a bit.  
Joey put the fragments into her pocket then glanced up at the closed door briefly worrying about Yugi. Then she shook her head he'd be fine, she had promised to help take care of Grandpa for him till he could get to the hospital.  
Turning Joey ran to rejoin the others outside the building at the ambulance.

They had been sitting at the hospital for awhile with Grandpa who the doctor assured them just needed rest and to take it easy, he had had quite a shock to his system. Once they were sure he was resting comfortably the three stepped out of the room to wait for Yugi so he could sleep in peace.  
While waiting in the lobby Joey handed the card fragments over to Tristan and excused herself saying she had something she needed to take care of. Tristan grabbed her arm cautioning her not to get into trouble without someone there to have her back, she gave him a smile promising to be careful. As Joey walked away from the hospital she turned back to see Tristan starring out the window of the lobby after her.  
She gave a wave before she turned around to continue onto the street. Joey had a somewhat long walk ahead of her so she started jogging the few shortcuts that she knew about to shorten it a little. She ran as fast as she could back towards her goal, she was panting and sweating by the time that she arrived at the large iron gates emblazoned with the letters KC. The gate was only part of the fence that circled the grounds of the Kaiba mansion.  
Joey gave the gate a slight push to see if it had any give and frowned when it didn't budge. She glanced towads the pillar to her left where there was an intercom, she doubted he would let her in if he even bothered to answer her. With a sigh she pressed the button and waited.  
When she was answered it was a young male voice, she hadn't expected that.  
"What do you want?" the voice asked.  
Joey pushed the button "I'm here to see Seto Kaiba, I'm ..... a friend from school."  
"My big brother doesn't have friends lady."  
Joey frowned she didn't know Kaiba had a younger brother, she wasn't surprised by the lack of friends though.  
"Look, I go to school with your brother and I really need to see him."  
"He's not doing very well right now can't you just come back later?"  
Joey thought long and hard for a moment thinking about her plan. She only hoped the security they kept didn't include dogs as she grabbed onto the gate and started to climb over. When she landed on the other side she half expected to be pounced on by some form of security but nothing happened so she started for the house up the driveway.  
When she got to the house she saw the double door was standing open with a short dark haired figure standing in the doorway with arms crossed. The young boy had a scowl on his face as he watched her and when she stopped at the bottom of the stone steps leading up to the door she gave a wave.  
"Don't you know what the word 'no' means lady?" he demanded.  
Joey sighed "I need to see Seto Kaiba, it's important. Please, I won't stay long."  
"You were one of Yugi Motou's friends when he dueled my brother."  
"Yeah."  
Joey and the boy stared at one another quietly before he sighed turning back to step into the house, he motioned for her to wait a moment before he pressed a button. The intercom popped to life and he spoke into it telling Kaiba he had a visitor there to see him, it was quiet for a moment before he asked who was there.  
"Joey Wheeler." she offered when the boy looked at her expectantly.  
Joey stood waiting quietly while the younger boy turned to speak into the intercom again, there was a pause before she heard Kaiba tell her to come up to the office. The boy gave her a look and shrugged pointing to the stairs.  
"Turn to the left at the top of the stairs, it's the door on the right at the end of the hall." he said.  
"Thanks kid." Joey said moving to the stairs.  
"It's Mokuba."  
Joey smiled and thanked him again.  
Joey got to the top of the stairs and followed along the directions that Mokubah had given her, till she came to a closed door with light pouring out from under the door. She lifted her hand and knocked at the door, hesitant to just bust into the room even though she was expected apparently. The door swung open before she had even lowered her hand and she was looking up at a scowling Seto Kaiba.  
"What do you want Wheeler? Yugi send you here to gloat?" he demanded stepping back gesturing her into the room.  
"No, Yugi isn't one to gloat." she said following him over to the desk.  
Kaiba sat down behind his desk and looked down at his hand with a frown.  
Joey had seen Kaiba earlier before the duel but as she looked at him now he seemed like a different man then the one she saw earlier. He seemed shaken and as he stared at his hands his eyes seemed far away, as if he were somewhere else. He leaned back in his chair his eyes flicking over the office slowly before turning to lock on her as he frowned deeply at her.  
"What do you want then?" he demanded.  
"An answer." Joey snapped "What the hell did you gain by bullying an old man over a card? People already think you're an asshole and I'm inclined to agree after this."  
Kaiba's eyes narrowed "And do you know what I think Wheeler? I think you're just Yugi's lap dog that hasn't really learned her place."  
Joey got to her feet her eyes blazing in anger.  
"A dog whose place is at her master's feet." Kaiba snapped coming around the desk.  
"Sounds like someone has a fetish." Joey said with a smirk up at him.  
Kaiba's eyes widened as he looked down at her, they stared at one another long enough that Joey felt her face starting to get warm. She knew she was blushing but what she was sure was a figment of her imagination was the blush starting to creep at his cheeks. His lips were parted slightly and what had appeared to be him looming over her was turning into him simply leaning towards her. She felt his hand touch her upper arm lightly and she knew her face must be bright red by now.  
Joey had had a crush on Kaiba since he had started at the school, she wasn't certain why he was always an asshole. Well, not always there were rare times when it was just them that he had seemed like a normal person.  
The intercom popped and she heard his brother Mokuba say something very quickly though she couldn't catch what it was. It had an immediate effect on Kaiba, he drew back from her shaking his head sharply.  
"You need to leave, Wheeler. Now." he said grabbing her arm to drag her towards the door.  
"Wh - Kaiba.." she stuttered as he drug her towards the door.  
Before they reached the door it burst open and five figures were standing there looking in at the two, they didn't speak just simply stood there.  
"Mr.Kaiba we're here for our meeting." one man said stepping forward. "Who is this young lady?"  
"She was just leaving." Kaiba told them then said to her "We'll talk later."  
Joey didn't miss the dismissal and stepped forward to leave, she was stepping past the five men when one of them grabbed her arm. She turned to look up at him a bit startled and he just gave her a crooked grin.  
"What's your name beautiful?" he said smiling showing teeth.  
Joey felt a chill go down her spine and as she tried to pull her arm out of his hand she felt him tighten his grip. She looked down at his hand ready to pry his fingers off of her but another hand had already seized his wrist.  
"Leave her alone Johnson." Kaiba said slowly his voice like ice.  
Johnson looked up at Kaiba and then turned his eyes back to Joey.  
"Have a lovely evening ma'am, I'm sure we'll see each other again." he said releasing her arm.  
"I hope not." she muttered. "See ya at school rich boy."  
Joey moved quickly down the hall, half wanting to run. He had only grabbed her arm but she felt disgusting, she wanted to get somewhere so she could shower. The look in those eyes had been chilling, she felt her breathing getting heavy and panicky as she reached the bottom of the steps. She took a few steps forward but she felt her legs getting shaky, she grabbed the banister sinking to a sitting position.  
Joey sat down on the last step breathing heavily her body shaking as she hyperventilated. She hadn't seen that look in someone's eyes in a long time, it was something she was terrified of and had managed to avoid. She had gotten good at running and hiding when she needed to, she hadn't been able to do either that close.  
He had been right there starring at her, no doubt knowing he was causing her to panic.  
Joey closed her eyes leaning forward then started trying to take deep breaths and slow her breathing while counting in her head. She was focused on that when she felt a hand touch her shoulder causing her to jump.  
"Hey you okay?" Mokuba asked standing infront of her.  
Joey swallowed and just gave a slight shake of her head "I - I just need a minute."  
Mokuba looked at her with concern in his eyes and then looked up the stairs before looking back at her.  
"Hey, you can't stay here the meeting upstairs won't be long. Come on you can sit in here till you're ready to leave." Mokuba said offering his hand to give her a hand up.  
Mokuba walked beside her as she walked on wobbly legs to the room he had pointed to which turned out to be a sitting room. It had a bunch of leather chairs and a large fireplace against the far wall with decanters sitting on top of the mantle. He pointed her to a nearby chair and she sank into it releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding. He looked at her and frowned slightly before going to close the door.  
Joey could hear noises coming from upstairs and slowly getting closer. She felt her chest getting tight as the noises drifted down from the top of the stairs and she held the armrests tight, her knuckles going white. She was starting to hyperventilate again as the noises passed by the door, she didn't want to see that man again. See that look in his eyes.  
There was a brief moment where they heard the men talking loudly pause outside the door. Then the sounds faded before the front door slammed closed behind them, the voices gone. Footsteps approached the door and Joey tensed before the door swung open, she relaxed when she saw Kaiba.  
She was surprised that seeing Kaiba made her feel safer.

Kaiba hated meetings with the Big Five as they liked calling themselves, they were a fucking joke but they were good at their jobs at least. They were the only things left over from his adopted father and he couldn't wait to be rid of them in a few months when his plan went into action.  
He opened the sitting room door planning to take a moment to relax with a book or just take a breather before he went to bed. When he stepped into the room he froze in place, he faught the urge to step back out and then back in just to confirm his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Joey was looking up at him from one of his leather chairs looking like she was actually happy to see him, there was a sheen in her eyes that looked like tears.  
He looked at his brother sitting in the chair across from her.  
"She was supposed to be gone by now." Kaiba said sighing. "What are you still doing here?"  
"She was freaking out on the stairs so I thought she might want to sit down for a minute." Mokuba said shrugging his shoulders.  
Kaiba looked over at Joey as she turned red averting her eyes.  
He gave a long suffering sigh "I'll take you home come on."  
"Wh- what?" she asked looking at him disbelievingly.  
"Come on." he snapped.  
Joey stood and started to follow him then hesitated at the door turning back to Mokuba.  
"Thanks for earlier."  
Kaiba turned to see his brother give her a thumbs up and a smile.  
Joey followed Kaiba out to the garage where he still had a few of his father's cars that he had collected. He wouldn't usually drive himself around or lower himself to drive someone else home but he had given the staff the day off, he hadn't wanted them to see him in his dark mood.  
Once they were on their way he looked over at her sitting quietly looking out the passenger window. She didn't offer to tell him where she lived.  
"Where am I dropping you exactly?" he demanded.  
"You can let me out a little down the street from Yug's place." she said shrugging. "I'm staying there tonight."  
Kaiba grunted.  
After everything he had done tonight involving the Motou's he didn't want to see either of them again, he hadn't really wanted to see Yugi's friends either. He glanced at her and gave his head a shake, he wouldn't be the first one to start a conversation with her.  
When they got to the street he stopped a bit down from the game shop, he pulled to the curb then looked over at Joey.  
"Thanks for the ride." she muttered rubbing at her neck.  
"Don't mention it, really don't mention it. To anyone." he snorted.  
"You don't have to worry about that rich boy." she said grabbing the door handle. "Look about earlier... you didn't have to do that to Grandpa, he never would have used the card."  
Kaiba frowned at her, he wasn't going to justify what he had done.  
Joey got out of the car giving him a nod as she started down the street to the game shop. Kaiba watched her disappear into the store before he started the car again.

He didn't see the other car at the end of the street that had been following them since they left the mansion. As he started back towards the mansion, Johnson smiled to himself looking at the shop.


	3. Chase

When Kaiba awoke he was looking up at a canopy of trees with the star filled sky peeking through the branches, he sighed at the realization. He was dreaming again and as he thought about it he realized it wasn't one of his regular dreams, it was just like the high priest one before. The dream he had no control over.  
Kaiba rolled over on his bed roll looking at the others with him, there were two other people with him. He knew one was his squire and the other was .... he squinted his eyes looking at the figure. The figure had long blond hair and as he scanned over the person he realized they were small framed. He lifted his head a bit as the figure rolled over which was facing him and the very low fire they had burning.  
Kaiba got up a bit and he looked at the sleeping figure closely. Damn it, it was another Joey look alike just with long flowing hair.  
Why did he keep dreaming about her?  
Her eyes opened and flicked towards him, narrowing before flicking up to the treeline behind him.  
"What is it?" he asked softly.  
She frowned "One of the familiars is behind you."  
He turned around quickly and could see the glowing red eyes moving through the trees, the red eyes looked towards him giving him a chill. There was an audible growl that rumbled through the trees and then the eyes turned back to the side then the figure started to disappear. He didn't feel like it was a threat to him but as he watched the glow disappear into the trees he couldn't help the fear he felt when it just randomly appeared.  
The familiar was always lingering around them, especailly since he had asked the witch to join them. She had been one of the people a village had sent him to stop, they had believed her responsible for the monster attacks in the area. The shadow creatures had been nothing but illusions, the witch had been harmless to them.  
Josette had been a harmless herbalist but when he had freightened her the familiar had rushed from the trees to attack him. He had put up a fight against the large black beast with red eyes losing the battle barely keeping the monster off of him. When it knocked his weapon away he had feared that would be the end but she had stopped the creature.  
It had listened to her backing away from him and disappearing back into the trees, he had never seen it fully again.  
"Why aren't you resting?" she whispered softly.  
"I don't know." he admitted. "Why are you awake?"  
"I have a lot on my mind."  
He gave a hum turning back to stare at the trees once more.  
"Seto, why did you really bring me with you?"  
He turned back around to see her looking at him.  
"Since we have been traveling together you have never needed my healing abilities nor my illusions. So why did you really want me to come with you?"  
Seto looked away from her feeling his face flush a bit at the question, he hadn't taken time to think about why he had really asked her to join them. She was right he had not been interested in her healing abilities, it was her he was interested in. The more he got to know her the more it felt like he had already known her, like they had met before. He was certain they had never met before the day in the woods.  
Kaiba gave a mental groan at how cliched this all felt to him, he vaguely started to wonder if he started taking some sleep aids if it would prevent these dreams.  
He heard the woman sit up on her bedroll and turned to see her looking at him one brow raised at him questioningly.  
"I brought you with me because it felt right." He admitted.  
She smiled "I know, I just wanted you to say it."  
He frowned looking at her "What do you mean you know?"  
"You feel as if we've met before." she said shrugging. "We have in a previous life."  
Great even Yugi's dream friends are nerds, Kaiba thought.  
"A previous life?" he asked shaking his head.  
She flashed him a smile "Oh yes. We were lovers then and you can't deny you feel attracted to me even now."  
Seto swallowed looking away from her, he had started to feel attracted to her but he had been trying to avoid how he felt. He had taken oaths that would see him punished for giving in to such base needs.  
"It's alright." she said softly. "I don't need you to answer. Our last life was cut short together as well and I know you have sworn your oaths."  
"Why was our last life cut short?" he asked.  
She smiled sadly "There was strife in the kingdom we served, you were caught in the middle of it."  
Kaiba wondered if she was talking about his last dream or if she was refering to something else. He could feel the exhaustion settling over his shoulders as the knight looked away from the woman a heavy silence stretching between them. They both settled back into their seperate bedrolls and it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Joey had been laying on the ground between Tristan and Tea when she heard something moving that had woke her up. She was such a light sleeper that the slightest noises woke her up lately, her friends were all so tired they were still asleep.  
They had been at Duelist Kingdom for a few days now and were working hard to try to get into the castle, they had to rescue Yugi's grandpa. He had had his soul stolen by the millinuim item that Pegasus possessed and the only way he would return it was if the Pharoah defeated him in a duel. But first they had to earn their way into the castle by getting the alloted amount of star chips, it was slow going so far.  
Joey sat up slowly and slid carefully out from between her two friends her eyes scanning the treeline. She stepped away from the group and started following the slight noise that she had been hearing in the distance. As she kept walking she could hear the noises getting louder, someone was out there in the trees pacing around in unrest. Joey wondered who it was that was having such a hard time resting.  
When she got closer she slowed and started to strain her eyes in the dark to try finding the person.  
She was about ready to go back to her camp when she saw a flash of a figure walking through the trees, whoever it was was wearing a long dark coat. She hesitated briefly before stepping forward into the small clearing the figure was pacing in muttering quietly.  
"Hey you ok?" she called softly.  
The figure whirled around and Joey was looking right into Kaiba's icy blue eyes. They stared at one another for a few moments before they stepped a bit closer together, both an arms length apart.  
Joey had been there when Yugi had been told Kaiba was dead and he had dueled his 'ghost'. They had been trying to rescue his Kaiba's younger brother Mokuba from his kidnappers but they had failed. They were left wondering what really happened to Kaiba after the duel because the 'ghost' had been using his deck there was no doubt, his was the only one with the three Blue Eyes White Dragons.  
"Kaiba.." she said surprised. "Rich boy we were told you were dead."  
"Well, you're sadly mistaken mutt." he snapped, yeah that was definitely Kaiba.  
"Unlike some people on this island I wasn't hoping you were dead. Are you here looking for Mokuba?" she asked softly.  
His eyes widened and he grabbed her upper arm tightly pulling her closer to him roughly. His eyes narrowed and his voice was cold.  
"Have you seen him? Where is he?" he demaned his grip tightening a bit.  
Joey jerked away from him rubbing her arm looking up at him with a frown. She didn't expect to recieve an apology for the rough treatment but she certainly wasn't going to let him get away with it.  
"You're a real asshole you know." she snapped. "We saw him not to long ago but he was taken back to the castle is our best guess. He was kidnapped by some of the enforcers that are prowling around here."  
Kaiba turned away from her pacing back and forth his hand rubbing at his chin. He let out a sharp growl shaking his head, she could see he was deeply worried about the safety of his brother. It was the most emotion she had ever seen him show.  
"We're trying to rescue Yug's grandpa from Pegasus too. We could join forces." Joey said taking a cautious step towards him.  
"I work alone." he said turning away from her. "Good luck rescuing the old man."  
"Kaiba you can't do this alone." she said "We could help you."  
"I don't need help from the geek squad, you'd only get in my way."  
Joey turned away from him scanning the trees "Fine, good luck and be careful. The enforcers here aren't very friendly and since Pegasus kidnapped your brother I doubt they'll hesitate to stop you."  
Kaiba frowned his eyes narrowing at her "Thanks for your concern."  
She shrugged her shoulders starting to turn away from him, she felt a hand grab her elbow pulling her to a stop. She looked up at Kaiba whose eyes had gone to the side of the little clearing they were standing in, she followed his line of sight. There was a little bit of a light, maybe someone with a flashlight, sweeping the area and slowly moving this way.  
"The enforcers probably wouldn't take it easy on anyone found with me either." he said with a frown.  
She nodded in agreement and her eyes scanned the area away from the light. She didn't want whoever it was suspecting that he was here but she knew if she was caught alone that they'd try to have her kicked from the island. Joey frowned slightly and then she had a thought that might work out for the best.  
"Come on this way." she said quietly.  
Joey started walking back towards the way she had come and she could feel his presence was right behind her as she moved, he was at least trying to keep up. It was dark through the trees so much so that he was having trouble keeping up with her, Joey reached back through the dark and snagged one of his hands in her's. He tried to pull it away at first but she tightened her grip tugging him along behind her, he stopped tugging against her after a moment.  
They were almost back to where Joey and the others had bedded down when the flashlight cut through the dark infront of them. They both came to a stop but it hadn't been a quiet one so the light snapped towards them.  
"Run?" she asked softly.  
"No shit." he grumbled tugging her behind him this time. "Come on."  
The two whirled back around and started sprinting through the trees as the enforcer with the flashlight started to chase after them. The light wasn't steady enough to stay on them but it bounced around enough that they got a little bit of an idea of where they were, what they needed to avoid. They came out of the trees onto a small foot path and decided to stick to the trees across the path instead of staying on the mostly open area.  
They went into the second treeline running at an angle, slowly they started to lose the light behind them and once it was mostly gone Kaiba yanked her hand towards a set of bushes. They ducked behind them and tried to catch their breath while watching for any sign of the enforcer. After a few moments they had their breathing under control and still hadn't seen the flashlight, they hadn't heard any sounds of pursuit either.  
It was once they were able to relax that Joey realized that Kaiba hadn't released her hand yet. She smirked a bit and let out a sigh.  
"Well that was fun."  
Kaiba shot a scowl her way before shaking his head.  
They sat for a moment listening and as they sat in the bushes they started to hear voice calling out.  
"That's Yug and the others." she said smiling. "They must have heard the commotion."  
Kaiba released her hand standing up "I don't have time to play catch up. This is where we part ways. Take care of yourself Mutt."  
"Uh, you too rich boy."  
Kaiba stepped away from her and started in the opposite direction of the yelling.  
Joey watched him go and when she couldn't see him anymore she started walking towards the sound of her friends calling her name. She stepped out onto the foot path and was immediately spoted by Tristan who called for Yugi and Tea, Joey waved to them with a smile.  
Tristan grabbed her in a headlock scolding her loudly for worrying them like that.  
Joey gave him a shove when he released her "Sorry being chased through the woods by some guy caused you to worry."  
"You were being chased?" Tea asked her eyes widening. "Why would someone chase you through the woods?"  
Joey rubbed the back of her neck giving a shy smile and a nervous chuckle "I may have ran into Kaiba in the woods."  
"Kaiba? He's here?" Yugi asked smiling. "Where is he now?"  
"He wants to try stopping Pegasus alone, wouldn't be talked out of it."  
They four frowned at one another but agreed it was a bad idea to go it alone like that. They started back towards the small camp they had set up in the clearing planning to sleep the rest of the night.

Kaiba moved around for the rest of the night not settling down for longer than a few minutes to rest, he had to reach the castle as soon as possible. He wasn't going to leave his brother with that mad man for much longer.  
He was surprised that he had managed to be found by Joey especailly after he had just awakened from the dream with her look alike in it. Weaker minds would have said it was fate and he should pay more attention to what was going on. Kaiba thought it was all just a minor headache distracting him from his goals, dreams were just dreams that was all they were.  
He had to admit though the concern she had given him for his missing brother and his own safety had been warming. He would of course never say so out loud and he made an effort as he navigated through the dark to put everything out of his mind. To put all of the strange new feelings of warmth towards Joey Wheeler out of his mind, he wasn't going there and he wasn't going to let this all distract him.  
He had work to do and the only way to make sure it was accomplished was to have a clear mind. He wouldn't risk anything happening to his brother because of this.

Joey and the others were sitting together around a small campfire they had set up in the clearing, they were quietly discussing the kidnapping of Mokuba when they heard something rustling in the woods to their left. They all stood at the ready with Joey and Tristan infront of the others ready to fight whatever came out of the treeline.  
The rustling ended when Bakura stepped from the bushes and the trees looking around the room in wonder at the sight before him. He frowned slightly.  
"Yugi?" he asked surprised. "What are you lot doing here?"  
"Bakura? We could ask you the same thing." Yugi said frowning slightly.  
"I don't like to brag about it but I've been practicing palying duel monsters, I thought I'd enter the tournament to see what my chances would be." he said smiling.  
"Oh wow that's great Bakura. How many star chips do you have?" Yugi asked with a friendly smile.  
"I have six so far. What about you guys?" he asked sitting across from them at the fire.  
"Same." Yugi and Joey said showing their star chips.  
The group chatted together for awhile and they pulled out their cards showing them to each other comparing decks with each other. While they showed off their cards they all decided to show off their favorite cards to each other.  
Yugi's was the Dark Magician, Tea's the Magician of Faith, Tristan's was the Cyber Soldier, Bakura's was the Change of Heart magic card, and Joey's was the Flame Swordsman. They talked about how much they enjoyed seeing the cards on the field when they played and how they sometimes imagined being those cards out there.  
As they talked together about their cards the group missed the sinister look starting on Bakura's face as he suggested they all duel. He suggested they put their favorite cards in Yugi's deck so it was like they were all playing, the smile he gave them seemed genuinely kind but they missed toothy grin he flashed when they turned to Yugi. Once the cards were in the deck he showed his true nature.


	4. Dangerous Games Played

Joey awoke from what she was sure was just a crazy ass dream because there was no way it could have possibly been real. They had been talking to Bakura about their favorite cards from their decks when he suggested a duel just for fun. They had all put a single card into Yugi's deck and as soon as that was done there was a sudden flash of yellow light that had caused them to pass out.  
When Joey opened her eyes it was to her sitting on what looked like a large duel monsters card and when she looked up it was to see two giant figures standing over her. One was Yugi and the other was Bakura, even though they were familiar there was something about the two that seemed different. She had freaked out a bit at seeing her giant friends realizing that either she was dreaming or going crazy, neither was a great idea right now.  
She turned away from Bakura to look up at the giant Yugi who told her that she was in a dangerous shadow game and if they lost the duel then they could really lose their souls. They had to win the duel to send the evil Bakura back into the millinium ring that normal Bakura wore around his neck.  
She agreed that she would help him win, even though she felt ridiculous in the outfit of the flame swordsman. But it was freeing to actually be the one on the ground fighting the other monsters they were playing against. Soon she was joined by the others - Tea, Tristan, and Yugi- on the field of battle.  
Together they faught against evil Bakura and eventually bet him in the duel, when the duel was over there was another blinding yellow light that cast over them.  
When Joey opened her eyes she was laying between Tea and Tristan just like she had been earlier in the night. They had jerked awake just like she had and they were all blinking in wonder starring at each other. Had that really just happened or had they just dreamed it all?  
"I just had the strangest dream." Tea said softly looking up at the others.  
"Me too." Tristan agreed glancing towards Joey.  
She nodded in agreement with the two.  
They looked in unison at Bakura and Yugi who gave nervous little laughs as they avoided direct eye contact with the rest of the group. They started questioning them immediately about what had happened and they assured them they would explain everything later. The group fell silent and then turned to look at each other in slight shock.  
The group continued working towards getting the star chip so they could get inside the castle and rescue the souls that Pegasus had stolen. During the duels they gained the star chips they would need to get there and Joey actually gained two new card that she put into her deck. One was from Tristan and the second was a gift from Tristan - the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Swamp Battleguard.  
It took forever for them to get back on the foot path after they were stranded in the cave with the Paradox brothers and when they escaped they found themselves at the bottom of the stairs to the castle.  
They cheered and started up the stairs quickly running for the gates of the castle ready to move on to the semi finals of the tournament. When they reached the top they met with Mai Valentine a fellow duelist that had actualy caused them some problems early in the tournament. They had talked together after another duel and it had ended with them not quite being enemies but not being friends.  
When they were inside the gates they started for the inside of the castle, as they passed a balcony overlooking the island Joey glanced out at the view. She lagged behind the others a bit but something caught her eye so she came to a complete stop. She froze and realized she was seeing Kaiba standing at the edge of the balcony starring out over the island.  
"Rich boy, you made it?" she called walking towards him.  
Kaiba turned around and his narrowed blue eyes stared through her sharply "I can't believe you made it this far, mutt. Where's your friend Yugi?"  
"I'm right here Kaiba." Yugi yelled.  
Joey turned around to see her friends walking towards them quickly, they looked protective as they moved towards them. She realized they must have thought that she was being bullied by the millionaire.  
"Yugi how good to see you. I'm afraid you won't be admitted into the castle just yet." Kaiba said turning and pushing past Joey.  
"What have you done Kaiba?" Yugi demanded.  
"I made a deal with Pegasus. You'll have to duel me to get in there, if you win you get your grandfather back and if I win I get my brother back." Kaiba said.  
"That's insane!" Tristan yelped.  
"You can't be serious!" Tea gasped.  
"Kaiba he's tricking you, you can't really believe he would stick to his word." Yugi said holding his hands out pleadingly.  
Kaiba stared at him his face a cold mask of indifference towards Yugi.  
"You have no choice. Face me in duel or lose all chances of getting your grandpa back." Kaiba said sternly.  
"Alright Kaiba. I'll duel you." Yugi said quietly.  
"We'll be using these to duel." Kaiba said opening up a briefcase he had been carrying that no one had paid attention too.  
Inside were two disk objects with slots for cards to be placed on and wrist straps that would hold the card in place. As they put them on Kaiba gave a run down on how they would be used to play duel monsters and he went first in the duel to demonstate their uses.  
They stepped to different sides of the balcony and faced each other, as always Yugi changed as he stepped away. He always appeared as if he were a different person when he dueled, he gained more confidence and seemed to speak with a deeper voice. Joey wondered if he was completely aware of himself when he dueled or if he might have some sort of split personality, she didn't want to press him to hard on the subject.  
Joey watched from the side lines with the other cheering Yugi on throughtout the duel, early on it was hard to tell who was going to come out on top. As the duel continued though Kaiba began to start losing life points and couldn't keep monsters on the field for very long. Joey cheered for Yugi but every time she saw Kaiba lose a monster or life points she had to admit she felt bad for him, he was only trying to save his brother after all.  
Both, Yugi and Kaiba were duelling for someone they loved and were looking to rescue. Joey believed Kaiba didn't really want to indanger or hurt anyone else to achieve his goals, she knew if that's what it took he'd do it though.  
As the duel seemed to become a one sided battle with Yugi coming closer to winning Kaiba did the unthinkable.

Kaiba could see he wasn't going to beat Yugi. He had nothing in his hand, his weakest monsters were all that stood between him and Yugi on the field. There was no way he was going to pull himself back from this duel under respectable means, he wouldn't be able to pull the cards he needed for that. He couldn't afford to lose this duel, Mokuba was counting on him to win.  
As he looked up at Yugi, he regretted what he had to do but he wasn't going to lose his brother. Kaiba took a few steps back while Yugi looked at his hand and by the time he had looked back up at Kaiba mouth open to no doubt lecture him on the heart of the cards again, he was already in place. Kaiba took the final step back onto the ledge of the balcony, the ground so far below them it would be certain death should he fall.  
"Kaiba what are you doing?" Yugi demanded mouth opened wide in shock.  
Kaiba kept a cold indifferent mask as he spoke "If you attack my monsters or my life points directly the shock wave will throw me off of this balcony killing me. I doubt you want that keeping you up at night Yugi. If you don't attack me this turn and end it then I will attack you next turn which then the next until I have beaten you. Or you could forfeit the duel to me."  
"Kaiba this is insane! Think about what you're doing!" Yugi cried out desperately. "Is this really how you want to save you're brother?"  
"There is nothing I wouldn't do for my brother." Kaiba said firmly.  
Kaiba cut his eyes to the side to look at Yugi's friends. Tristan and Tea were standing in pretty much the same spots as before their eyes wide with shock, mouths hanging open like idiots as he expected. Joey had started inching her way closer to him jaw set with determination, he figured she was planning to pull him back off the ledge for a fair duel.  
"Come any closer Mutt and I'll jump, your friend Yugi has to make his choice for himself." Kaiba warned turning to face her.  
"Damn it, Kaiba don't be an idiot." she hissed.  
"So what will it be Yugi?"  
He turned his head slightly to look at Yugi but still keep Joey in his line of view just in case she tried anything. He waited for a moment seeing the conflict in Yugi's eyes as he debated what to do, he saw tears starting to form in the boy's eyes as he raised his hand pointing at him. He tried to declare an attack but the words wouldn't form and soon he collapsed to his knees silent tears rolling down his cheeks.  
Kaiba had won the duel.  
As he started to step down from the balcony he felt the stone he was standing on begin to shift causing him to lose his footing. He began to waiver on the edge and found himself falling backwards his mouth opening to cry out, fear kept him from making a sound.  
He had a brief moment for part of him to think he deserved this. He deserved to fall to his death, deserved for it to hurt when he landed too. Part of him, the other part was angry for something like losing his balance to be what killed him.

Joey had turned planning to run to Yugi with the others when he fell to his knees, she had really meant too. But she had hesitated looking up to Kaiba on the ledge for a second, that had been long enough for her to realize he was falling backwards.  
His arms were flailing forwards his hands grasping at air desperately trying to pull himself to safety, his eyes were wide with fear as he fell. He would die if someone didn't do something.  
"Kaiba!" Joey yelled running forward.  
She was glad she had already been edging towards him or she wouldn't have made it in time, as it was she only managed to grab part of both side of his coat using her weight against the wall to slow the fall. She held the part of his coat that was by his waist which was the center of gravity she was told but as she pulled her, body pressed to the wall, she couldn't get him straightened back up.  
Instead she felt herself falling forward with him.  
"Joey! I've got you." Tristan cried out his arms grasping Joey around the waist.  
Tea and Yugi grabbed onto Kaiba wrestling him forward back onto the balcony throwing him forwards instead.  
When Kaiba fell forward he knocked Tristan and Joey over, Kaiba landed mostly on Joey knockin the wind out of her lungs.  
They all laid on the stones panting and trying to get their breathing under control after the near death experience. When Kaiba had caught his breath he lifted himself up on his hands and found himself looking down at Joey.  
Joey could have punched him, as she looked into his blue eyes seeing the surprise there she decided if she caught her breath she was going to punch him. They stared at one another unmoving and like the night Joey had confronted him in the office she could feel herself begin to blush.  
She didn't think she'd get over the crush she had on Kaiba even though he seemed to keep doing things like an asshole or just plain stupid. As she looked into his blue eyes and saw his lips part to speak, she wished she was a bit braver and that she wasn't still slightly pissed off with him.  
"Y- you saved my life." Kaiba said astonished.  
"Yeah." Joey croaked and then she cleared her throat. "I think you're crushing my lungs though."  
"Oh...." Kaiba got up quickly.  
Joey sat up and gave a slight cough as she got to her feet.  
"I owe you one Mutt." he said avoiding eye contact with her.  
Joey frowned at him "Don't mention it."  
Kaiba gave a slight smirk at her before he turned walking towards the castle "Don't worry I wasn't going to mention it to anyone."  
Joey grabbed his elbow pulling him to a stop as he turned around his eyes narrowing at her.  
"What were you thinking?" she demanded "You could have been killed and then what would have happened to Mokuba?"  
"What do you care, Mutt?"  
"Look Rich boy, you're an asshole but no one is wishing you dead. Why can't you see we're your friends?" she hissed quietly. "Youu can't do this alone."  
"If I work alone it keeps other people from getting hurt."  
Kaiba yanked his arm away from her and started toward the castle again. He cast one last look over his shoulder at them as they gathered together to watch him walk away.  
Once he was out of sight they turned to comfort Yugi on his loss against the other boy, he had done the right thing in not knocking the other boy off the balcony. He agreed that he had done the right thing but now they wer further away from saving Grandpa from Pegasus. They only hoped that they could beat whoever had made it to the semi finals and make it to duel the head of the tournament himself.

Kaiba's mind was whirling with the earlier experience he had had, it might have been the closest he had come to actually dying. He hadn't expected any of Yugi's little nerd herd to come to his aid, he wasn't completely shocked that Joey had saved him though. When she had grabbed hold of his coat he knew it was only prolonging things because she wasn't heavy enough to keep him from falling. He had thought she would go over the edge with him until her friends had started to pull them both back up.  
Once he was inside he was taken by the servants to the duel area where Pegasus was waiting for him, that same cold smile on his face.  
"Welcome back Kaiba boy." Pegasus said nodding.  
"Where's Mokuba?" he demanded.  
Pegasus tossed him what appeared to be a duel monsters playing card but when Kaiba turned it over he saw the image of his brother on the card. He cut his eyes up at the white haired man and frowned at him.  
"What have you done?" Kaiba demanded.


	5. Going Home

After everything was said and done with the Duelist Kingdom tournament Yugi came out as the new grand champion of duel monsters. Pegasus released the souls he had stolen over the course of the tournament and attempted corporate takeover of KaibaCorp. with the Big Five still needing to be punished when they all got back to the mainland.  
The three souls that he had taken and released upon his defeat were Seto, Mokuba, and Grandpa. Though Seto and Mokuba were the only two actually on the island with Grandpa's body being back on the mainland in hospital for his coma.

Yugi lead the group out of the castle towards the stairs again, everyone on the island had been told a boat was waiting at the docks to take everyone home. They had been told they had a certain amount of time to get to the boat or be left behind by the others. Yugi was ready to start heading for the boat though he wished that he could get home sooner than the estimated time of arrival on the boat trip. He was worried about Grandpa.  
As they were walking back to the stairs they saw a KaibaCorp. chopper heading towards the castle which meant that Kaiba would be leaving soon. As they watched the chopper approach Joey had an idea and started scanning the area for Kaiba, she spotted him halfway down the stairs with his brother.  
"Kaiba!" Joey called down to him. "Hold up Rich boy!"  
Kaiba turned looking back up the hill towards them as Joey hurried everyone down the stairs. They were shooting her confused looks as they trailed behind her after the Kaiba brothers. By the time they had reached the two brothers the chopper was starting to land in the clearing at the base of the hill.  
"What do you want Wheeler?" he sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.  
"Look I want to call in the favor you owe me." she said "We need a ride back to the mainland."  
Kaiba sighed looking at each of them then he smirked "I only have two extra seats available."  
"Joey we don't-" Yugi said touching her arm.  
"Take Yug and Tea then." Joey said firmly "Tristan and I can make it to the boat in time."  
"Hell yeah we ran track it'll be no sweat." Tristan agreed.  
Yugi and Tea gave each other a worried look; but Joey reassured them that they would be fine alone.  
"So what do you say Kaiba?" Joey said smiling. "You give them a lift and we call us even?"  
Kaiba looked at her and then glanced at her friends.  
"Fine." Kaiba said then hesitated. "When you get to the mainland come by the mansion, if you don't make it back then my debt isn't paid."  
Joey smirked "If you wanted me to come over you could-"  
Kaiba turned and was walking quickly down the stairs, he didn't look back to even see if Mokuba was following him.  
Mokuba gave a shrug and followed after his older brother down the stairs. Neither of them stopped till they had reached the helicopter and then they waited beside it for their two guests.  
"Joey, Tristan are you sure?" Yugi asked as they made their way a bit slower down.  
"Of course." Joey said nodding.  
"Yeah you guys get back home and check on Grandpa we'll be fine." Tristan said. "We know how to take care of ourselves."  
"I just feel guilty leaving you guys behind like this." Yugi said sadly.  
"Really Yug, don't give it a second thought." Joey said firmly.  
They said their good byes at the helicopter and wished all of them a safe trip back to the mainland. They wished them the same before climbing into their seats and strapped themselves in for the flight.  
Once the helicopter was in the air and heading away from the island at high speeds the two remaining on the island started running for the docks. They'd be cutting their arrival close to departure time.

When Joey and Tristan arrived at the boat they could see a small line still waiting to board while Pegasus' employees checked off names on a list. The two got at the back of the line and leaned around to try seeing if they recognized anyone in the line ahead of them.  
They didn't see anyone immediately in line that they recognized. They knew there would be more people on the boat that they knew, the boat had been kept off shore during the tournament and when someone was knocked out of it they were sent in a row boat to the ship. The two looked at the others infront of them, noting that most of them were the older contestants that had joined the tournament.  
When it was their turn in line the man scanned the list for names.  
"I have a Joey Wheeler here but you," he said gesturing to Tristan. "Aren't on here at all."  
The two exchanged a look.  
"Yeah about that-" Tristan began rubbing the back of his neck.  
"I could get in trouble. How'd you even get here?" he demanded.  
"Uh, well you see..... I stowed away the first trip."  
The man glared at the Tristan and frowned deeply.  
"Look," Joey said slowly. "You can't leave him here, you'd probably get in more trouble for that then for letting him leave with me on the boat."  
He looked around since they were the only ones on the dock and then he pointed at her.  
"Fine but he causes any trouble and your name goes on a ban list. Got it?" he said sternly.  
"Ban list?"  
"You would be banned from tournaments hosted by Mr.Pegasus' company which at this time is all of them."  
Joey swallowed hard and nodded "We'll stay out of trouble."  
"Yeah you've got our word." Tristan said.  
"Alright. Head on up, you'll be in the same room on the second deck."  
They nodded and headed up to the ship.  
Once they were onboard they started making their way down to the room they had been assigned and they passed by a diningroom area that they paused to peek in. There were a few familiar faces in the room sitting at various tables Mai Valentine, Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, and Mako Tsunami were the ones they recognized first. The room had a bunch of other people in it but none that they knew right off.  
They stepped into the room deciding to eat first then find their own room.  
"Joey Wheeler," Mai called waving. "Glad to see you guys made it back to the boat. Where are the rest of your friends?"  
"They were able to get a quicker ride back to the mainland." Joey said as they joined her at her table. "There was limited seating though."  
"So they ditched you two?" she asked her eyes widening.  
"We volunteered to take the long way home." Tristan said. "Yugi has to get home to check on his Grandpa at the hospital."  
"That's right he mentioned he wasn't well." Mai nodded "I had forgotten so much has happened in the last few days."  
They all agreed that a lot had been going on in the last few days on the island, they then started talking about what they had been doing on the island. Mai told them about the duels she had won on the island to get her star chips and then listened as Joey told her about her duels as well.  
The food came out soon and the three stayed together for the meal, chatting together for a few moments. Once the meal was over they seperated from each other and headed back to their own rooms for the evening.  
On the way down for to their room they ran into Weevil who was rooming on the same deck as them. He eyed them deviously before ducking into his room with a low chuckle, Joey and Tristan exchanged a look before opening the door to their room.  
The room they entered was a single person room like the others on this level and was furnished as such. A twin bed centered against the wall with a bedside table on one side and a smalled dresser on the other, a small table with only two chairs close to the door, a single arm chair and a small tv set were at the far wall. The room had a small door the lead to the bathroom which was also close to the door.  
They opened the bathroom door and were greatful to see a small shower and toilet inside.  
This was the same room they had held up in on the way to the island and they had been told they could leave clothing on the ship since they wouldn't have access to showers on the island. The two went to the dresser and made sure everyone's bags were in the seperate drawers like they had left them.  
"I'm getting a shower first." Tristan said grabbing his bag.  
"Don't take to long trying to fix your hair." Joey said.  
"What's wrong with my hair?" he demanded.  
"You put so much product in your hair, trust me it won't kill you to go without tonight so I can shower at a decent hour."  
Tristan stuck his tongue out at her and she grabbed one of the pillows throwing it at his head. He ducked and quickly got into the bathroom closing the door. She heard the shower turn on and let out a sigh.  
Joey sat down in the armchair and switched on the tv, there were very limited channels on the set but she flicked through to find some background noise. As she sat there watching the tv she began to doze off.

The helicopter landed on the mainland in a good amount of time and Kaiba disembarked from the chopper. He had kept out of the conversation as much as possible with the rest of them and had tried sleeping during the flight. He hadn't managed to fall asleep but he had rested his eyes which had kept the others from bothering him.  
He had found himself wondering about Joey's trip on the boat, wishing she had been one of the two to join him on the boat. He tried to shake off thoughts about her but when he found he kept circling back to her he gave up. So he let himself be distracted by the thought of her and he tried to think about his feelings about her.  
She was very different from him from what he could tell, they didn't seem to have much in common with one another. But she wasn't that bad to be around he admitted. She had been good natured most of the time and she he had only seen her lose her temper when someone threatened her friends. She had even saved his life and helped him on the island with the enforcers that Pegasus hired, sh didn't have to do that.  
He knew that she would come to the mansion when she was finally on the mainland, he wondered why he had thought to invite her at all.  
When they had landed and gotten out of the chopper they still had to ride an elevator down from the top of KaibaCorp. During the ride down he saw Yugi and Tea glancing at him curiously.  
"So.." Tea began then stopped when he looked directly at her.  
He waited but she didn't continue so he turned back to face the door.  
"So are you and Joey friends?" Tea asked in a rush.  
Kaiba thought about it for a moment and tilted his head towards her "Something like that I guess."  
There was silence for a moment.  
"Are you interested in her?" Mokuba asked.  
Kaiba turned to look at him giving him only a half glare as his younger brother avoided his eyes. He didn't miss the smile he was trying -and failing- to hide from him.  
"I'm not talking about this with you." he said firmly.  
Yugi smiled "What about with me?"  
Kaiba sighed and pinching his nose again.  
"I'm not talking about this period." He said firmly.  
Tea chuckled "So your interested."  
He remained silent but was mentally kicking himself for bringing them with him back to the mainland, he should have left them. It would have made for a more peaceful trip home in the long run. He wouldn't have been thinking about Joey or have to answer -avoid answering- questions about them.  
At best he thought they might could be called friends at this point but on the other hand he had to admit he had started to feel attracted to her. He had to admit the dreams he had been having about her, or women that looked like her, had got him to entertain the idea they could be together lately. But he wasn't going to say that outloud, he had no reason to believe she'd be interested in return.  
She probably thought they were just friends.  
When the elevator doors opened he started walking as quickly as he could without looking like he was running away from the others. He didn't want to talk to them about his feelings or anything close to that.  
Outside the building they were about to head off in seperate ways, Mokuba had gotten into the Kaiba limo already when Yugi came over from their taxi.  
"Kaiba listen," Yugi began quietly "You didn't hear it from me I was supposed to keep it a secret. Joey has had a crush on you since you started at our school."  
Kaiba looked down at him frowning "She told you this?"  
Yugi gave an excited nod.  
Kaiba rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  
"She has a bunch of drawings of you, that she keeps in a seperate notebook." he admitted. "You can't tell her you found out from me. She only told me because of you giving her a ride home."  
"She told you about that?"  
"Yeah how you kinda saved her from Johnson too."  
Kaiba frowned and turned his head away so he wasn't looking at him directly. He lifted his head up slightly thinking about what all of this could mean between the two of them now. He didn't know if he'd be able to forget what was said just to go back to being the somewhat friends that they were right now.  
"She won't find out it was you that told me." he assured him. "I have to go now Yugi."  
Yugi smiled at him and gave him wave as he walked away from the limo.  
Kaiba slid into the seat and sighed relaxing into the seat. He ignored the look that Mokuba sent him and just laid his head back on the back of the seat eyes closing. He sighed as he started to drift off to sleep and soon everything went dark.

Seto stood looking out at the city, the Pharoah had had the cities sentry fires lit earlier than usual after his coranation had gone so terribly wrong. Thief King Bakura had been resposible for the sour mood to the evening, he had dug up the last Pharoah's corpse and had drug him into the palace behind a horse. He had had one of his shadow creatures attack the Pharoah and his councilors which the lead the Pharoah himself becoming involved with the battle.  
Seto was worrying about how they would protect the Pharoah against such a terrible force. Bakura was going to try and kill them all one by one if that's what it took to remove the Pharoah from his rightful place, they had no idea how to stop him.  
"High Priest Seto?" came a soft voice.  
Seto turned around and saw Katsu standing in the doorway. She smiled softly at him and as he turned to her he extended his hand beckoning her to come closer. Katsu walked up to him and put her arms around his waist as he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and then the other around her waist.  
"I heard about the attack on the Pharoah today." she said softly. "It sounded so terrible. Was anyone hurt?"  
"No we are all alright but he desecrated the tomb of the last Pharoah." Seto said softly.  
Katsu shook her head sadly "Things are going to get so dangerous now that Bakura has returned."  
"I know that's why I asked you to come here tonight." Seto said softly. "I think it would be best if you leave the city for awhile."  
Katsu pulled away and looked up at him her eyes wide in horror "No I won't leave without you."  
Seto touched her cheek gently and sighed "I can't leave the Pharoah, I owe his family everything."  
Katsu shook her head slowly "You could be killed."  
"Your concern for me is appreciated but unnecessary. I will be fine."  
Seto ran his fingers over her cheek gently and leaned his forehead onto her's. They looked into each other's eyes seeing the devotion they had for one another reflected back to them. Seto leaned down and pressed his lips to her's pulling her body closer to his, one of his hands reaching up into her blond hair. He felt her relax into the kiss her arms circling around his waist pulling her as tightly as she could get to him.  
He parted his lips touching his tongue to her's and her mouth opened letting him dip his tongue into her mouth. He felt her tongue press to his and it seemed as if they were in a fight for dominance of the kiss. Seto's hands slowly trailed over her body eagerly pulling a moan from her that made his heart start pounding.  
One of his hands grabbed the back of her leg pulling it to where her leg was hitched over his hip as he pulled her to his height. Both of her legs were wrapped around his hips and he broke the kiss lowering it to her neck.  
"Seto..." she moaned softly.  
He moaned softly into her skin pulling away from her neck.  
"I'm so in love with you." he sighed into her neck.  
"And I love you as well."  
"Then you must believe me and leave the city until it is safer for you here." he said softly. "Please do this for me."  
Katsu looked at him and frowned "What if something happens to you while I'm gone?"  
"Nothing will happen to me, just please take care of yourself. I will send for you once we have captured Bakura."  
Katsu and Seto looked into each others eyes for a few moments then she nodded slowly.

Later that night Seto watched from the gates as Katsu left the palace wrapped in a dark cloak with a small bag of supplies for her trip. She was going back to the village of her birth to visit the family she had there until Seto sent for her with word that it was safe for her again.


	6. Duke and Joey

2 weeks after Duelist Kingdom.  
Joey was sitting at her desk looking out the nearest window her mind wandering, class hadn't started yet so she wasn't worried.  
Her desk was no longer beside Seto Kaiba's desk, as he had taken his early graduation test and passed, instead it was just an empty desk. She had come into class everyday since and would frown at the empty seat, it was a bit saddening for her to not see Kaiba ever day at school.  
She hadn't seen him since she and Tristan had gotten back from Duelist Kingdom on the boat, she had tried to go see him at the mansion like he had requested. He hadn't been there and when she was getting ready to leave she had been stopped by Mokuba, he told her what had happened to his brother.  
The Big Five had created a virtual world they had managed to trap Kaiba in. His body was at KaibaCorp. in the virtual reality chair he had been put in to test the new game. They had even put themselves in the game to try to get rid of him for good, they still wanted to get their hands on the company. They hadn't managed to capture Mokuba before going into the virtual world after Kaiba, which had been the downfall of their plans.  
Mokuba recruited Joey and her friends to help rescue his brother from the Big Five. Even after they had helped rescue Kaiba he hadn't had much to say to Joey beyond a begrudging thank you.  
She hadn't seen him since.  
"Alright class." the teacher called gettign everyone's attention.  
Joey turned to look at the front of the class where the teacher was standing behind his desk.  
"We have a new student here today, he will be taking his last year of classes here with us. I'd like to introduce Duke Devlin."  
A student dressed in the same, blue pants and jacket unifrom as the other males, walked in. The uniform was the only thing he had that was like the other students. Duke Devlin had long black hair fixed with some of it hanging at the side of his face with the rest pulled back behind his head. He had a dangling earring of a die on one ear, he had sharp black eye liner on his eyes, and a cocky smile on his face.  
When he walked into the class his eyes swept over the room as the teacher introduced him and when his eyes stopped on Joey he smiled.  
Joey gave him a slight smile back before turning her eyes back to the text book on her desk.  
"Why don't you take a seat by Josephine." the teacher said gesturing to the empty desk beside Joey.  
She cringed at the use of her real name instead of the shorter version she prefered. No one called her Josephine at least not to her face, she didn't care what they called her behind her back.  
Duke Devlin took the empty desk beside her and shot her another friendlt smile and a subtle wink. Joey turned away from his starring giving a snort as she watched the front. Throughout the class she would peek over at the desk next to her and would catch him starring, she would try to avoid the looks. He didn't get involved with the class much which was something they had in common, she tried to avoid in class participation.  
At the end of class Joey grabbed her things and was joined by Tristan as they were walking out of the class.  
"Hey Josephine right?" Duke asked hurrying to catch up with them.  
He flashed Joey a smile and Tristan chuckled as he walked beside her.  
"It's Joey." she said rolling her eyes. "No one calls me Josephine."  
"Oh, ok. Joey then." he corrected "So like correct me if I'm wrong but have we met somewhere before?"  
Joey frowned and glanced at him "I don't think so. I'd probably remember you."  
Duke smirked "You'd remember me?"  
"Probably but who knows."  
"I saw the interviews after Duelist Kingdom, you were the runner up to Yugi Motou."  
"That was me. You duel?"  
"Occassionally but not really in the professional circuit."  
Joey and Tristan stopped at the split in the halls, the two friends split here for different classes. They would meet with everyone else for lunch out in the outdoor sitting area, they gave each other a wave before parting ways.  
Duke followed Joey down the hall. She cut her eyes at him frowning slightly, he didn't seem the lost puppy dog type but she was starting to get that vibe from him.  
She stopped at a door to her next class and she noticed some of the other girls starring at him eyes all dreamy. She had to admit he was attractive but she wasn't going to drool over him. He gave the other girls behind her a crooked grin over her shoulder, before focusing a suddenly intense look at her. Joey was sure her eyes widened at the sudden change in him.  
"So look I can't shake the feeling we've met before." he said leaning closer his voice dropping.  
"We haven't." Joey said firmly.  
"Fair enough. How about we get to know each other then? Hang out after school?" Duke asked.  
Joey frowned "I don't know, I'll think about it ok?"  
Duke shrugged "I'll catch up with you after school then."  
Joey watched him walk away and she turned going into the classroom, a few of the girls shot her envious looks as she took her seat. She ignored them and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Kaiba sat at his desk in his office at the KaibaCorp. building the outlines for the tournament he was planning to announce soon laid out before him. He was trying to focus on writing the new rules for the tournament but he couldn't keep his focus.  
He'd had a few more of those dreams in the last two weeks all of them featuring him and Joey Wheeler in different setting. They had spanned different time periods from the others he had had before already. He hadn't been to worried about the dreams since he was so busy, he hadn't seen Wheeler in days so he was having a little bit of luck putting her from his mind. Until one specific set of dreams had started occuring at night now.  
It had been about himself and Joey as usual except this time she wasn't some young woman he had found and was wooing. She was a young wife to another man that was from an influential family wherever it was they were. Kaiba had met her when her husband had hired him to work for them in their stables, he had felt the work was beneath him but when he had met her he took the job.  
The dream had progressed with him spending time trying to deny his feelings for her but still unable to leave her alone. She for the most part had been troubled by the attention, fighting between her loyalty to her husband and the feelings she had for Kaiba.  
It wasn't the flirting with the married woman that had Kaiba feeling uneasy, it was the jealousy he had felt for the man. He envied him, not just in the dream but in his waking life as well. The more the thoughts ran through his mind the worse he felt.  
Yugi had told him that Joey liked him or at least had a crush on him, he could always develope that into a working relationship. He thought about trying but then he remembered everything he had on his plate for work. He would never have enough free time to devote to chasing Joey, he knew she would make it difficult for him from the start.  
Then there was the dreams. He didn't want to be with her just because of the dreams or hallucinations kept showing him with her.  
They had little in common with one another as far as he was concerned and it would be foolish to try imagining otherwise.  
Besides the last time he checked there were no long dark haired men interested in Joey at the school. There was no competition there so he was free to wait a bit longer and see how he felt after he had finished his tournament project.

True, to his word Duke Devlin had managed to find Joey as she left school with her friends. They had been walking back to the game shop when he had caught up with them, outside of school he was already a bit different. When they were in the school he had given off the lost puppy vibe when talking to Joey but now he was full of confidence.  
Joey introduced him to her friends and he greeted each of them with a friendly smile before he turned his attention back to her.  
"So I figured out where I know you from." he said smiling at her.  
"Is that right?" Joey asked as Tristan bumped her elbow.  
When she looked he gave her a smirk and wiggled his brows.  
"Oh yeah." Duke said smirking then dropped his voice in a mock whisper. "From a past life."  
Joey came almost to a dead stop looking at him trying to repress a laugh.  
"You're -" she began a brief giggle slipping through. "You're kidding right?"  
Duke smirked "Nope and I can prove it."  
Joey sighed rolling her eyes "Oh really? How's that?"  
"Go out with me tonight and I'll prove it to you."  
Joey sighed rubbing the back of her neck.  
She had two sets of hands yank her backwards.  
"Would you give us a moment please?" Tea said waving at Duke.  
"Yeah we need to speak with our friend here for a minute." Tristan agreed.  
Tea and Tristan dragged Joey by her arms a little ways down the street with Yugi trailing after them. The group of friends came to a halt to where they could still see Duke but he wouldn't hear them talking. They stood in a circle with Tea and Tristan talking to Joey.  
They both had different opinions on the offer made by Duke. Tea thought he was crazy and she shouldn't go anywhere with him incase he was a creep. Tristan thought Joey should give him a chance instead of pining over cold hearted assholes like Seto Kaiba, the thought earned him a dirty look from his friends. Joey remained mostly silent as they went back and forth about what they thought she should do.  
"You know Joey it's been awhile since Kaiba has even tried to talk to you." Yugi said slowly. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go on one date with Duke."  
Yugi felt guilty just suggesting it, but he had to admit he thought if Kaiba were interested in being more than friends with Joey he would have said something by now. Especailly since he had told Kaiba about Joey's crush on him but nobody had heard from him.  
Joey frowned a bit looking away from them back at Duke, he glanced her way and smiled.  
"Maybe you're right Yug." she sighed. "I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"  
They all gave nods as she walked off down the street back to Duke. They spoke for a moment then headed off together in a different direction from the other three.  
Joey let Duke take her to a few different places in town where he clearly seemed to know a bit about her. He knew her favorite hobbys like her art work and he took her to a crafts supply store to hang out looking for things she might need. He could name her some of her favorite music and offered suggestions for songs he thought she might like to hear. When Duke suggested they get something to eat he named her favorite diner as a place they could stop. It was good evidence he knew her but then again he could have heard that from anyone at school.  
She didn't put it past being a joke of Tristan's.  
They walked into the diner and sat down at a back booth, they had just placed their orders when the Kaibas walked in.

Kaiba followed Mokuba into the diner his mind still far away. He had finished work early and had picked Mokuba up from school with plans to do some more work at his home office. Then his brother had suggested stopping for dinner in town while they were there, he loved greasy food at this diner so suggested it when they had started to drive past.  
When they walked in Kaiba lazily scanned around for a place to sit his eyes stopping when he spotted Joey Wheeler sitting at a back booth. There were two plates sitting at the table one for her and one across from her, he ignored that figuring it belonged to one of her friends.  
Not giving himself time to think about it he walked back to her table.  
"Hey Mutt." he said stopping beside the table.  
Her eyes snapped up to him going wide as her mouth dropped open a bit.  
"Kai - Hey Rich boy." she stuttered her face going red.  
"Did I startle you?" he asked frowning.  
"Yeah my mind was.... somewhere else right now. So how are you doing after .... everything?"  
He knew she was talking about the Big Five, which had been the last time they had seen each other. He wished he had tried to talk to her before now, he realized, she looked like she wasn't sure about his presence there.  
"Busy." he said quickly. "It seems work never stops, with Pegasus all but retired my company is getting more business then ever."  
"That's good, I guess."  
"Sorry it took me so long Joey." another voice said.  
Kaiba looked up to see a long dark haired boy standing infront of him, his hand resting on the seat behind Joey.  
"You going to introduce me to your friend?"  
Kaiba stiffened his eyes widening, this was the man from his dream. Younger perhaps but definitely the same person.  
"Oh, sure. Duke Devlin this is Seto Kaiba." she said quietly.  
The boy extended his hand with a crooked confident smile aimed at Kaiba but he didn't take it.  
"I'll let you get back to your date then." Kaiba said pitching his voice to where it was even, he sounded cold even to himself.  
"Kaiba-" she began but he turned away from the two walking back to Mokuba.  
"Get it to go Mokuba we're leaving." he said.  
"But Seto why?" he began then stopped. "Oh."  
The two left the diner without Kaiba even looking back the booth where Joey and Duke were sitting together. They didn't speak on the ride home but he didn't miss the looks of sympathy his brother shot him. Kaiba just stared out the window in silence.

When they walked to Joey's front door she was counting down till she could get inside and grab the phone. It hadn't been Duke's fault that the rest of the evening had been soured, she couldn't get her mind off of Kaiba.  
The look on his face when he had seen Duke and the way he had said the word 'date', he couldn't have been jealous? If there was any chance she could salvage things, between them whatever they were, she had to try. Maybe it was just wishful thinking that he had been jealous, maybe in his eyes they were only friends anyway. It was making her guts twist inside thinking about it so she had to know for sure.  
She wanted to know if she had a chance.  
When they stopped at her door she turned to face Duke who seemed to be nervous.  
"I'm sorry how awkward the rest of the night went." she said softly.  
"Don't worry about it. We could always try again, you know, if you want to?" he said shrugging.  
Joey hesitated "I'll think about it."  
He smiled and nodded.  
"So the whole past life thing work as a pick up line often?"  
"I only used it with you and I meant it. I still feel like we've known each other for a long time."  
Joey gave a hum as she turned unlocking her door "I'll see you at school then. Goodnight."  
"Night."  
She watched Duke walk back down the hall and turn the corner then she quickly entered her apartment closing the door behind her. She snatched the phone up off of her counter and started dialing the Kaiba mansion's number. It rang for a few minutes before going to voicemail and so she hung up then dialed again. This time there was an answer.  
"This is Kaiba speaking." he sounded tired.  
"Hey. It's Joey."  
"I have caller I.D. What do you want Joey?" he sighed.  
"I wanted to talk to you about earlier." she began. "About Duke, look it wasn't-"  
"He seemed nice enough, I guess he really liked you." he said "Mokuba thought you two were a nice couple."  
She frowned "Oh. You seemed angry, I wanted to check in with you?"  
"I'm just overworked and remembered something I still had to do when I got home." he sighed. "My job is never done."  
"That's the reason you were mad? Work? You haven't been avoiding me?"  
"You're my friend Joey why would I avoid you?"  
She was silent for a moment and then she sighed, defeated.  
"No reason."  
"Was there anything else, I'm very busy?"  
"No, no I guess not. Goodnight Rich boy."  
"Goodnight Mutt."  
Joey hung up and stared at the phone in silence, that had answered her questions. It hurt, Kaiba wasn't interested and he never had been.

Kaiba hung up the phone and ran his hand over his face slowly. Then he leaned back closing his eyes. She would be happier with Duke, he told himself, he actually had time for her. It still made his guts twist in knots deciding they should just be friends.  
"Joey." he sighed sadly.


	7. Hirutani

It was an overcast afternoon with thunder rumbling in the distance, Duke and Joey were walking back towards her apartment after having hung out with the others at the local mall. They had been trying to go out for the past week but no matter how well things went for them, Joey just didn't feel the same connection. As they walked back to her apartment she was trying to explain what she was feeling to him without the two of them losing a possible friendship.  
"So, you think we'd be better as friends?" Duke asked smiling down at her.  
Joey leaned against one of the buildings averting her eyes "Yeah... Look, I get what I should be feeling but I'm just not."  
"Hey don't worry about it." Duke reassured her leaning beside her. "I don't want you to pretend to feel something you don't. There's someone else right?"  
Joey nodded "Yeah, I think so."  
"Is it Tristan?" he asked smirking.  
Joey actually laughed at that and shook her head "No it's not Tristan."  
Duke chuckled "You two are more like a couple of guys anyway."  
"You remember Seto Kaiba?"  
Duke's eye widened "The rich CEO? Damn, I can't compete with that."  
"It's not about the money he just - I don't know..... he makes me feel...." Joey struggled over her words. "I wish I could put it into words."  
Duke smiled and Joey looked up at him giving a sad smile. Duke leaned down putting one hand on her cheek pressing his lips to her's lightly. They touched lips briefly before he pulled away with a sigh.  
"It's no hard feelings really, Joey. Just keep me in mind if Kaiba decides to fuck up." Duke said chuckling. "Friends?"  
"Friends." she agreed. "I'm gonna head home. See you at school?"  
"See ya then."  
Duke and Joey pushed off from the walls, walking seperate ways down the street. Joey back towards her apartment and Duke back towards his home.

Joey was taking one of the short cuts back to her house through one of the many back allies in the city, it had started to rain lightly and had gotten fairly dark. Most of the light she was going by was from the car lights on the street and the occassional lightning flashes.  
She had her school uniform coat pulled tightly against her body as she jogged along the alley and as she came to the next turn the lightning flashed. She saw a large figure looming in ahead of her in her direct path, she froze in place looking up at the figure straining her eyes. Joey took a few steps back from him and cast her eyes around, another flash and she could count three other people in doorways.  
"Long time no see Joey." the tall figure said in a deep voice. "How have you been?"  
"Hirutani." Joey hissed backing away slowly her eyes shooting around her.  
Hirutano had been the leader of the gang Joey had been a part of when she had first started high school, she had been one of the only kids in her class to have been a known scrapper. She had taken a few martial arts classes at the time and had been tougher than some of his other men in the gang. She had been his top brawler when he had recruited her promising protection in numbers from any other gangs.  
Then she had met Tristan and they had become fast friends, once he had her back she had no need to stay with the gang. It had caused an issue but none of the gang had been willing to really try to stop her from leaving.  
She cursed under her breath, she knew that they would eventually come back for her. Hirutani didn't forget slights against him, he simply waited for a better time to strike.  
If anyone had been watching from the outside of the alley in the flashes of light from the storm they would have seen the brawl. Figures darted forwards throwing fists and kicks at each other, one body would go down for others to turn against. The largest figure swung towards the slighter figure connecting a few times.  
The sounds of the fight were dampened by the storm as it got worse. Rain came down in blinding sheets and obscured every dark corner from view.

Kaiba had finally finished the rule book for the Battle City Tournament and was ready for the announcement tomorrow evening.  
Plus his plan for the duel discs was completed and they had already been shipped to stores all over the city so that as soon as he announced everything would be ready.  
He was fairly satisfied with himself, and lately he had mostly managed to forget about Joey Wheeler. Mostly. His dreams persisted on almost a nightly basis now with each starting to end with him talking to himself. Or at least the Egyptian version of himself. The more Kaiba thought about it the more it made his head hurt and he had enough going on right now.  
Thoughts of Joey would creep into his mind sometime wondering where she was and what she was doing now. It was no longer just the thoughts of her counterparts in his dreams that plagued his mind. He had insisted they were friends, that they were better as friends if anything. He didn't feel like much of a friend, he had avoided her to avoid the fact she must be moving on with Duke. He didn't want to see that happen.  
Kaiba had been sitting at his waiting for the storm to pass as he reflected on all of this when he decided he was tired of waiting. The storm only seemed to be getting worse and he'd never hear the end of it from Mokubah if he slept in his office again. Shutting everything down for the night he started locking up and headed for the elevator. He could see a few lights on in other offices and knew a few of them would be staying a bit longer.  
It never ceased to amaze him how dedicated his employees were in their duties.  
When Kaiba got to the first floor of the building and stepped out into the lobby he could hear a commotion from the front doors.  
"Ma'am you can't come in here we're locking up for the night." the receptionist cried sounding alarmed. "If you need help go to the hospital."  
"No.. no I need to see Mr.Kaiba. Please."  
Kaiba quickened his pace heading for the visitor doors and stopped in shock.  
Joey stood holding onto the door for support barely staying on her feet while the receptionist tried to push her back out the door.  
"Mr.Kaiba is gone for the day."  
"Joey." Kaiba said loud enough for the two to hear him.  
The receptionist jumped and backed away apologizing for the commotion. She gestured to Joey saying that she had tried to force her way into the building and was causing quite as stir.  
Kaiba dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he strode over to Joey.  
She looked horrible. She was dripping water -completely soaked- all over the floor, her skin was pale as a sheet, and as he stared at her he realized what he thought were dark circles under her eyes were bruises. He flicked his eyes over her noticing the cuts on her hands and the mud staining her clothes as well. She was barely standing on her feet she was shaking so hard, he couldn't tell if it was from cold or from injury.  
"You've been in a fight." he said softly.  
"Y- yeah." she said swallowing hard.  
"Can you walk alright?" he asked reaching to take her elbow.  
"I think so."  
Kaiba lead her back into the building ignoring the look the receptionist gave them as they got back on the elevator. He had spare clothes in his office and she would be able to call whoever she needed to come get her.  
"Your boyfriend didn't do this did he?" he asked keeping his voice even.  
He had powerful friends he was sure he could call in a few favors to deal with -  
"No." Joey said softly. "Hirutani, a gang leader I used to work for."  
Kaiba looked down at her as she huddled in the corner of the elevator her arms wrapped tightly around herself. He slowly removed his coat and held it out to her, she looked up at him before taking it. He felt a bit better once she was wrapped in the coat, she didn't seem to be shaking as hard at least.  
When they reached the floor his office was on he ushered her into the room closing the door behind them locking it. He opened the private bathroom he had in his office, it was a full bathroom with walk in shower. He never knew when he might be running late for a meeting and couldn't get home. He prided himself on being punctual so he decided to cut out the middle man and just keep doubles of a few things at the office.  
"Here," he said pointing to the bathroom. "Shower and borrow some of the clothes in the drawers over there. They'll be big on you but at least their dry."  
Joey paused at the door "Where will you be?"  
"I have a few phone calls to make." he said looking away.  
"But you won't be far?"  
Kaiba frowned "No."  
"OK." she said then "I .... just don't want to be alone."  
Kaiba watched her step into the bathroom closing the door softly behind her, he waited till he heard the water running before returning to his desk. He sat down to make his calls.

Once the door was closed behind her, Joey stripped off the borrowed coat and slowly started stripping off her soaked clothes. They were covered in mud from the alley and she was sure she could see some blood too. She tossed the clothes in the trash and started the shower. While she waited for the water to heat up she looked into the small single mirror over the sink.  
She looked like shit. She was pale, had one black eye, another one bruised closer to her nose -which was throbbing in pain-, and her face hurt from slight swelling of the eye. The real damage had been done to her torse, she wasn't sure if she had any broken ribs but she knew they had to have some damage. She had black and purple brusies all over her sides and center mass, it hurt to breath. The only reason she had made it this far was adrenaline and that was fading fast.  
Joey stepped under the steaming stream of water in the shower and hoped it would help with the pain. As let the water wash over her she closed her eyes and shuddered, it was almost like being back home again.  
Back when she lived with her parents, before they divorced and her mother left without warning. Her father had always drank and when he drank he was angry, he would beat them if they weren't quick enough to get out of his way. Her mother had got the worst of it until she grew tired and unable to cope, she just went to the market one day then never came back. Joey's father had never drank so much in one night before.  
When he was done beating her and she had managed to get away, thanks to adrenaline she had gone out her window. She never went back there again. She had made it to Tristan's house where his parents had gotten her help. She had stayed in sick bed for days after the beating, the doctors had said it was a miracle she had made it as far as she did.  
She still remembered when she would wake seeing Tristan by her bed watching over her. He had always had her back, even then.  
Shaking off the memories Joey wiped her face, unsure if she had been crying or if it was the shower. She would never admit even to herself which it was.  
When She got out of the shower she dried off and found she was stiil shivering from the cold. It was like the cold rain had seeped into her very bones to freeze her from the inside out.  
Joey found the only clothes she could that didn't look super expensive to borrow from the dresser. It was a pair of black slacks, a white under shirt, and a black button up shirt over it. She buttoned the shirt up mostly because the undershirt was almost see through with how thin it was, she could see the bruises through the fabric.  
When Joey pushed open the bathroom door she glanced to the desk to see Kaiba already walking towards her.  
"Are you alright?"  
"Better thanks." she said nodding.  
He narrowed his eyes looking worried "You were in there almost half an hour......"  
"No that can't be right... I -" Joey whispered. "I must have lost track of the time."  
"Do you want to go to the hospital?"  
"Not tonight. I'm hurting but I'm not dying, I'd really just like to rest."  
Kaiba shook his head and ran his hand over his face slowly, hand resting over his eyes.  
"Kaiba?"  
He sighed "Come on."  
"Where are we going?"  
Kaiba had started walking out of the office again and Joey moved to follow him, her body already starting to feel stiff.  
"Kaiba mansion, I figured you'd be stubborn. One of my doctors is going to meet us there and then you can rest."  
"Kaiba you don't have -"  
"You came to me." he cut her off. "You could have gone to anybody, but you came to me."  
She looked away from his ice blue eyes and felt her heart beat quicken.  
"Let me help you." he said softly.  
Joey nodded her head slowly "OK."  
The two went the rest of the trip in almost completee silence, except for the sharp breaths of pain that Joey would try to hide. She hoped Kaiba didn't notice them and he wished she would stop trying to hide she was hurting.


	8. The Start

As Kaiba pulled his car into the drive he saw the door to the mansion swing open and his brother already hurrying down the stairs a servant behind him. When Kaiba got out of the car he tossed the servant the keys and he walked around to the passenger door pulling it open for Joey.  
She got out slowly and gave him a weak smile of gratitude. She was shivering again even though the rain had stopped on the way there, and he worried she might have caught something in the storm.  
"Joey what happened to you?" Mokubah asked eyes wide.  
"Is the doctor here yet?" Kaiba asked ignoring his brother's questions.  
"Yeah he's in the guest room upstairs." Mokubah said "Is she going to be staying?"  
Joey opened her mouth to protest the doctor and staying with them as a guest. She fell silent when Kaiba turned to look at her his ice blue eyes narrowing as if to dare her to protest.  
"Just until she's feeling better." Kaiba assured his brother.  
The three made their way into the mansion and Kaiba took her arm to balance her as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. He worried in her weakened state that she wouldn't be able to go far on her own, that's what he told himself as he pulled her against his side. She leaned against him heavily and her shivering lessened as she leaned into his surprisingly warm body.  
When they got to the guestroom he had called to have prepared the door was already open and there was a woman waiting inside with a black bag. She smiled at the three when they entered and stood from the chair she had been sitting in, she stepped forward taking Joey's arm.  
"I came as soon as you called Mr. Kaiba. You must be Ms. Joey Wheeler, I am Dr. Mayweather." she said nodding to the teen. "I'm going to give you an examination and see what we can do to fix you right up."  
Joey nodded her head slowly.  
"I'll be in my office when you're finished doctor." Kaiba said backing away. "Come on Mokubah."  
The two brothers dismissed themselves pulling the door closed behind them. They walked back to the office where Kaiba sat behind his desk looking at the phone again. He had thought about calling Yugi or Joey's boyfriend Duke to come get her once the doctor had examined her, he had really meant to do so at his work office. He just couldn't bring himself to do it, not when she had come to him for help.  
She had trusted him when she was injured. That had to mean something and as he leaned back in his chair he wondered if it was a good thing.  
"So, no one is coming to get her?" Mokubah asked raising his brow in question.  
"No, I haven't called anyone. I suppose I should though." He sighed rubbing his eyes.  
"You care about her don't you?"  
Kaiba looked up at his brother sharply and frowned even deeper when he didn't flinch away from the look, only laughed a bit.  
"You know it wouldn't hurt you to actually have some human interaction outside of the company." Mokubah said.  
"What about her boyfriend, hmm?"  
Mokubah turned away from his brother rubbing the back of his neck "Oh yeah."  
The two sat in silence then both seeming to be lost in thought.  
It was awhile later when there was a knock at his office door and the doctor stepped into the room carrying her bag with her.  
"How is she?" Kaiba asked standing.  
"I put her to bed in the guestroom. I've taped her ribs and given her something for the pain for tonight." the doctor said "She'll heal given time and rest."  
"Thank you doctor. I know it's late."  
"It was no trouble Mr. Kaiba." she assured him. "I wrote this prescription for her it will need to be filled, for pain management."  
"I'll take care of it." he said nodding.  
The doctor bid them all goodnight and walked out of the office.  
Once, she was gone Kaiba and Mokubah stepped out of the office walking towards the guestroom. Mokubah paused halfway there and dismissed himself saying he was going to his room for the night. Kaiba shook his head when he saw the knowing look his brother cast him before disappearing down the hall. With a sigh, he continued down the hall to the guestroom which was sitting beside his own.  
Kaiba paused outside the door and knocked quietly on the door.  
"Come in." Joey called sounding exhausted.  
Kaiba pushed open the door and looked to the bed where Joey was reclined against the headboard. She pushed herself into a sitting position and smiled seeming a bit more relaxed.  
He walked into the room and paused at the side of the bed, looking down at her.  
She had taken off the black button up shirt and was just wearing the white undershirt that was a bit sheer against her skin. He kept his eyes averted politely as he cleared his throat.  
"Thanks Kaiba for the help. You know you didn't have too." she said softly.  
"You came to me and asked for help. It would have been in poor taste to turn you away." he said quietly. "Would you like me to call someone for you? Your boyfriend maybe?"  
"I don't have a boyfriend Kaiba." she sighed leaning back into the pillow. "I - he...... it wouldn't have worked out."  
"Why's that?" he asked cautiously.  
Joey looked away from him and he sat down on the bed beside her, close to the head of the bed so they could look at one another while they talked. He hesitated briefly then he reached out putting his fingers under her chin tilting her face to look at him, her eyes were wide and she seemed to be holding her breath.  
"Why wouldn't it have worked out, Joey?" he whispered.  
She swallowed before she opened her mouth to speak, her face turning bright red.  
"I .... I like someone else." she mummered.  
Kaiba actually felt his lips twitch in a crooked smirk "Oh? Who would that be?"  
Her eyes flicked to him then away quickly as her blush crept further over her face and neck. It looked good on the usually confident girl, Kaiba realized he found it very attractive. He gave a slight shake throughout his shoulders and gave her the smirk again as he tried to shake off his reaction to her blushing.  
Joey turned her eyes away from him and he saw her swallow hard.  
"Yugi told me." he said softly.  
She sat up so quickly she jerked her chin from his grasp and her eyes were wide in shock. Her face had gone from a bright red to pale and then back again. The reaction was so quick he was still holding his hand where it had been when he had held her chin, he was sure his own eyes mirrored how wide her's had gotten.  
"He told you?" she gasped.  
"He mentioned it after Duelist Kingdom." Kaiba said slowly.  
"Damn it Yugi." she moaned covering her face with her hands.  
Kaiba chuckled "I didn't quite believe him when he told me."  
Joey peeked between her fingers at him and then she dropped them to her lap with a sigh. She looked away from him seeming embarrassed as he stared at her.  
"You can believe it I guess." she muttered.  
Kaiba gave a snort looking away from her and at the wall across from the bed. He didn't know what to say now that it was out in the open, at least how she felt was out in the air.  
"What do you think?" Joey asked softly.  
Kaiba sighed looking down at the floor. He didn't know what to say, that he wanted her? That he had been dreaming about her for weeks now and thinking about her just as long? He would love to say he didn't feel any of it, that she was just a minor inconvience for him lately. When he looked back up at her none of those things came to his mind or passed his lips.  
Joey looked up at him with wide hopeful eyes and she was biting her lip.  
Kaiba felt his mouth go dry and his throat tighten up a little bit as he looked at those warm caramel colored eyes. Kaiba's heart beat steadily started to get faster and he was barely aware he was leaning towards her. Their eyes met briefly before he leaned in the rest of the way pressing his lips to hers.  
He pressed his lips to her's and his hands moved to hold her upper arms. He moved his mouth over her's parting lips feeling her respond in kind as she leaned into the kiss just as much as he was. He pressed his tongue to her bottom lip and she opened her mouth hesitantly letting him slowly dip his tongue into her mouth. As he leaned more into the kiss he heard her give a sharp intake of breath and he remembered everything she had gone through tonight.  
Kaiba broke the kiss suddenly standing quickly.  
"I didn't mean to do that." he muttered.  
He looked down at her again to see her eyes wide and her lips parted as she looked up at him.  
She swallowed "Oh."  
"You should rest. I'll see you in the morning."  
Kaiba turned to the door walking away, he paused at the door looking back at a shocked Joey.  
"Goodnight." Joey whispered.  
"Goodnight. I.... don't regret the kiss." he said softly. "You should just rest."

Kaiba was laid down in his bed dressed in just his sweat pants again the door to his room left ajar, he hadn't done that in years since Mokubah had stopped having nightmares. He had the door opened mostly because he was listening for any noises that Joey might make in the middle of the night.  
He had been sleeping for a few hours when a noise awoke him. He lifted his head slowly and through bleery eyes he looked for the source, he could see Joey standing in the door way of his room. She had her hands on the door frame and was looking into the room, biting her lower lip.  
She was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and the sheer shirt from earlier.  
"Joey is everything alright?" he asked softly.  
She stepped into the room slowly "I didn't mean to wake you."  
Kaiba sat up a bit "Are you alright?"  
"Having trouble sleeping." she admitted. "Do you mind if I come in?"  
Kaiba sat up rubbing his eyes lightly.  
"Come on in." he said softly.  
Joey walked stepped into the room and joined him sitting on the edge of Kaiba's bed. She curled her legs up under her body and she smiled shyly at him.  
"Are you in pain?" he asked softly.  
"No. I've just had a lot on my mind."  
Kaiba hesitated "The kiss?"  
Joey blushed and looked down at her hands.  
"I've just been thinking..... what does it mean now?" she asked softly. "Did it mean anything to you?"  
Kaiba sat up on his elbow looking at her.  
"Well, I thought we would wait and discuss this in the morning." he said softly.  
Kaiba sat up moving to the edge of the bed and put his feet on the floor. He faced her and sighed.  
"What were you wanting out of a relationship if we were to have one?" he asked firmly.  
Joey blushed "Well, you know the usual relationship stuff. Dates, hand holding, spending time together, and see if we fit well together."  
"Maybe marriage one day and kids?" he asked with a crooked smirk.  
"Whoa there Rich boy, no one said anything about kids." she said, laughing and rubbing her neck.  
"I'm a busy man you know, a company doesn't run itself. That might get in the way of us spending time together as much as you want."  
Joey shrugged "That's the point of making things work out."  
"Alright."  
The two looked at one another and he sighed rolling his eyes.  
"But I refuse to hang out with the nerd herd on a regular basis."  
"Deal." Joey said smirking.  
The two sat in silence for a few minutes and then with a sigh Kaiba reached his hand out, if they were going to be dating he figured he could do some of this romantic stuff. He brushed his fingers over her cheek and then he leaned forward to press his lips to her's again.


	9. Her Friends Find Out

Joey had really meant to tell everyone that she and Kaiba were dating before they found out on their own, she really did. But that plan hadn't worked out. After they had started their relationship that night at Kaiba Mansion everything just started happening so fast.  
Kaiba announced his Battle City tournament and everyone was in a rush to sign up for it to prove they could be the best. Then there was the rare hunters starting to cause a problem and Yugi with the Pharoah were trying to stop some guy named Marik Ishtar from taking over the world. She had to be there to support Yugi for that and once that started there never really seemed a good time to bring it up.  
Especailly since Yugi and Kaiba had gone back to being kinda sorta enemies because they both wanted the title of the King of Games. One because they wanted to save the world and the other because they wanted to be number one again.  
She had entered the Battle City tournament with the intent of helping Yugi stop Marik that was all.  
So it made having a normal conversation seem a bit forced at this point. What was she supposed to say anyway? 'Hey guys just thought you'd like to know Kaiba- the guy you all hate right now- is my boyfriend.' Yeah she was sure that wouldn't go over well with her friends just yet.  
Tristan would give her a sour look, Tea would ask if she'd lost her mind, and Duke.... She didn't know how he'd react since he had joined their friend group, she knew there was still some feelings there that lingered. Yugi would say he thought it was great and hoped it would work out for them, that's just how he was.  
So she hadn't managed to tell them yet. She was going to she just was waiting for a good time, that never really presented itself.  
Which left them having to find out in the craziest way they possibly could she was sure. But she figured when you hang with Yugi it was just how things went, right?

When Joey came out of what she thought was just some kind of black out she found herself starring at Yugi who stood across from her on a dock. They seemed to be in the middle of a duel with each other, she didn't remember starting a duel but as she looked she realized they both were about to lose it.  
Her eyes took in the whole scene quickly. The chains locked around their ankles that ran to the anchor hanging above the water, the timer that was ticking down for the anchor to drop into the water, and the boxes with the life point counters infront of them. She realized what was happening, someone had put them in a death trap and the thought made her stomach twist. The only way out would be for one of them to die here.  
As the life points both reached zero she saw Yugi collapse onto the deck- the duel too much for him- unable to reach for his own key to save himself. She couldn't let him drown.  
Joey grabbed the chains in both hands and swung across the gap between them diving for Yugi's key in the box. Her hand had just closed around it when the anchor dropped dragging them both into the water. Yugi's limp body dragged to the water and she was whipped backwards into the water with such force it almost knocked the breath out of her.  
Joey was able to keep it together long enough to swim to her best friend's side to use the key to free him. Once the chain was off his leg he started to float a bit instead of continuing to sink like she was. She saw a figure break through the water, and though it was getting darker harder for her to see she was sure it was Tristan, swimming right for Yugi. He would be pulled out of the water and be okay.  
She turned her attention to her shackles. She put the key into the hole and.... it wouldn't turn. She tried again and again. It wouldn't budge. The key wouldn't work. She had left her key in the box on the docks.  
Panic hit her as she tried struggling against the pull of the anchor. It was no use she was being dragged down. Until the anchor reached bottom she was sinking. She was going to drown here.

Kaiba had just released Tea from her shackles where Marik had kept her locked under a box that would drop on her should Yugi refuse to duel, when he heard the splash of the anchor hitting the water. His head snapped up in time to see both Yugi and Joey get yanked below the water.  
He felt his body tense and his breath almost stopped as he watched in horror. Then he saw Tristan dive in after them. He joined Tea, Duke, and Mokubah running to the dock to help.  
They reached there in only a few seconds but Tristan was already surfacing with Yugi when they got there. He was trying to hand him up to Duke when they all realized Joey had surfaced.  
"Where's Joey?" Tea yelled.  
"She must not have the right key. Get it and I'll-"  
Kaiba hadn't waited to hear what they said. When he realized Joey hadn't come up he had ran to her box to see she had left her own key behind to save Yugi. She must have thought both keys worked on the same shackles, but Marik had been to smart for that he was going to make sure someone died here today.  
Kaiba grabbed the key and launched himself into the water. He hadn't been much of a swimmer but he prided himself in knowing at least enough to get by. As he swam downward the water got a bit darker and it was harder to see but he could vaguely make out a shape below him. Joey?

Her lungs were on fire as she continued to struggle against the chain. She could feel she was brusiing the ankle and rubbing the skin raw as she struggled. She just wanted out. She didn't want to drown, she didn't want to die. Everything was hurting so much.  
Her ribs hadn't quite healed from her fight with Hirutani and as her lungs started to burn she could the ache of her ribs get worse. Then she just... couldn't do it anymore. She felt the breath she had been holding leave her and the water around her started to burn it's own trail down her throat, through her nose. She was breathing it in desperate for a breath and unable to get one. Everything was getting dark, a blackness in the edges of her vision seeping in.  
A dark shape approaching her from above. Then everything was black and she didn't feel anything. She was just numb.

Kaiba saw Joey floating her arms above her head, her hair lifted around her, and she was just so still. He quickly got the shackles off of her and once she was free he put one arm across her chest yanking her behind him as he kicked for the surface. He reached the surface pulled her head above water to see her friends already reaching for her. He lifted her as best he could till they grabbed her arms pulling her from the water laying her on the dock.  
He pulled himself from the water to see them starring at her horrified.  
"She'd not breathing!" Tristan yelled.  
He could see Tea shaking Joey's limp body tears streaming down her face already "Joey! Joey you have to get up?"  
Kaiba moved quickly shoving them out of his way leaning down putting his ear to her face to see if she was breathing at all. No. He shook his head tilting her head back.  
"Give me room." he snapped when her friends started to crowd him again.  
Kaiba put his hands on her chest just like he had been shown in CPR class he had taken and began to pump. As he did so he winced remembering her previously injured ribs but it couldn't be helped. He counted off each press of his hands before he leaned down again. Pinching her nose closed and tilting her head back to open her airway, then he closed his mouth over her's blowing air into her lungs.  
He did this twice more repeating the whole process of trying to express the water from her lungs. He was feeling sick to his stomach with fear by the third time. His arms were exhausted and he didn't know if he'd be able to keep going if this didn't work but he knew he wouldn't stop. Not till Joey was breathing again, not till those eyes opened to look at him and she'd give him that cocky little smile.  
He wasn't sure how long he had been pumping when finally she began to cough and throw up water. He turned her to her side as she had a coughing fit. Her whole body shook with the force as she coughed and sputtered before collapsing back onto her back gasping loudly.  
Her hand slowly went to her side holding her no doubt throbbing ribs.  
"Joey-" he began relieved before he was pulled back replaced by her crowding friends again.  
"Joey your alive!" Tea cried.  
"Thank god we thought we'd lost you." Duke said cheerfully.  
"You saved my life." Yugi said from where he was sitting weakly.  
Kaiba watched a little shocked as her head turned to each of them in turn with a tired friendly smile. He saw them help her into a sitting position and then she was looking at him.  
Her eyes went from a dull tired look to being relieved to see him. Her mouth pulled into a slightly weaker version of that cocky smile she would give people.  
"Kaiba." she whispered her voice hoarse from the water.  
He didn't hesitate then, pushing past her friends forward Kaiba put his hands on either side of her face pressing his lips to her's. He heard the collective gasps of her friends but he ignored them pulling her close to him as felt her relax into his body. She was shaking and he knew she must be in a great deal of pain. But she never pulled away from him even when he realized he was probably holding her to tightly.  
When he pulled back he looked into her eyes and he let out a breath.  
"You scared me Joey." he said softly. "I thought you were..."  
"Who me?" she asked chuckling. "Nah, I've got nine lives like a cat."  
She gave him a wink and he shook his head.  
"Thank you for saving me." she mummered. "Again."  
Kaiba smiled "We've got to stop making a habit of this don't we?"  
She gave a chuckled that turned into a coughing fit again and he stood up pulling her with him slowly. He balanced her then looked over at the others staring with their mouths hanging open.  
"You should take her to the hospital." he said firmly. "Have her checked out."  
"I'm fine really." she said then started coughing again.  
Kaiba looked down at her and shook his head "Then do it to make me feel better."  
She gave him a slight pout before nodding her head slowly in agreement. Then her arms circled his neck and she pulled him down for another kiss, this one was brief and gentle.  
"What are you going to do?"  
"I'm going to find Marik Ishtar." he said his voice going back to his usual unconcerned tone.  
She shook her head "Be careful."  
"Always."

Joey awoke in a hospital bed a few hours later, she had been admitted for monitoring and had been checked into a room quickly by the staff. She was going to be there for the rest of the day and was a bit disappointed by that in itself.  
When she awoke her friends were in the room with her and they were all just sitting around trying to keep busy.  
"Hey guys." she said her voice still sounding a bit raspy.  
They all looked up with big smiles on their faces moving to stand by the edge of her bed. They told her they were glad she was okay and that the doctors said if she was feeling alright still in a few hours they'd release her.  
"That's good news." she agreed. "Are you guys okay though? Yugi? Tea?"  
"We're fine just worried about you." Yugi said smiling.  
"Yeah you scared us all half to death." Tea agreed.  
Joey gave them a quick apology and they all settled in to discuss the attack by Marik and what their next move should be against him. While they discussed that she could tell from the looks they would get on their faces sometimes that they had something on their minds. She was certain what they wanted to know.  
"You guys can ask questions. You all look like your about to explode or somethin'." she sighed.  
Duke, Tristan, Tea, and Yugi exchanged looks briefly.  
"Well since you mention it-" Yugi began.  
"Yeah since you brought it up first-" Tea said slowly.  
"Or for gods sake. How long have you been with Kaiba?" Tristan exclaimed throwing his arms wide. "And why I mean the guy is kind of an asshole?"  
Joey stared at him for a minute as he crossed his arms looking away from her, she could see he was trying to control his temper. Not many people even knew Tristan had a temper.  
"Well we've been dating for about two weeks now." she said slowly. "As for why and him being an asshole..... He's trying to do better, it's not easy when you've been set in your ways so long."  
"But why him?" Duke asked brow raising.  
The others glanced at Duke as he leaned against the wall his eyes focsued solely on Joey. She could feel herself blush under his watchful gaze, a bit embarrassed.  
"Kaiba and I have a lot in common for starters. I used to be a bit of an asshole myself, before I had friends that would point me in the right direction. There's this connection too, something I've felt from the first time we met and ... he felt it too."  
"I don't see why -" Tristan began but was cut off.  
"Guys, I think we should lighten up on Joey." Yugi said smiling at her. "I mean Kaiba saved her life, it's obvious he cares about her too."  
"Well it's nice to know the leader of the geek squad approves." came a voice from the doorway.  
They all turned to see Kaiba leaning against the door frame his face the mask of cold indifference it usually was set in. He took up most of the doorway his shoulders squared as if expecting trouble and his back held straight. His blue eyes went over each of them before coming to a stop on Joey.  
She wondered if she was the only one that noticed his eyes soften when they came to her.  
Kaiba stepped into the room and walked over to the bedside.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked his eyes flicking to the others again.  
"Better thanks. Are you okay?"  
"I haven't been able to find any traces of Marik in the duel disc system." he admitted a bit sourly.  
"We'll find him, he's bound to show himself soon. This is like what? The fourth, fifth time his attacks have failed?" Joey mused.  
The others all nodded in agreement.  
Kaiba frowned deeply reaching out to touch Joey's cheek. She was surprised he was showing any public displays of affection but she had to admit she liked it. She leaned into the touch tilting her head to where she was looking up at him through her eyelashes, which made him smile indulgently.  
Tristan cleared his throat and Joey pulled her eyes away from Kaiba as he shot her friend a look.  
"Since Kaiba is here we should probably give you guys a few minutes to talk before you're released." Yugi offered before Tristan could say anything.  
"Yeah that's a good idea. We're going to go get some food, we'll see you two later." Tea said with a wink at Joey.  
Tristan and Duke were pushed out into the hallway by Tea and Yugi. Within seconds the two of them were alone in the monitoring room of the hospital.  
Kaiba glanced down at her hesitantly before leaning down pressing his lips to her's. Joey relaxed into the touch with a sigh, his mouth moved gently over her's as she felt one of his hands rest on her cheek. Joey wrapped her arms around him pulling him closer to her, her fingers brushing against the back of his neck lightly. She heard him give a stuttering breath as his lips parted with his tongue flicking out to touch her lips.  
Joey opened her mouth and Kaiba took full advantage by pushing his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues flicked over the other and when he stopped flicking his tongue Joey pressed her teeth against the tender muscle stopping it. She gently started sucking on the tip of his tongue which made him moan in the back of his throat as she felt one of his hands grab at her hair.  
Joey pressed herself further back against the pillow she was leaned on and Kaiba started to stretch his body over her's. His chest pressed flush to her's and his mouth pulled away from her's allowing her to gasp for breath. She felt his mouth trail over her jaw line as he tightened his grip on her hair and he let one of his hands slide behind her pulling her closer.  
Joey winced when his arm pulling her tighter to him causing pain in her side, she took one of her hands pushing on his chest.  
Kaiba pulled away, breathless "What? Did I hurt you?"  
"My ribs." she moaned dropping her head back against the pillow.  
Kaiba chuckled shaking his head "I got carried away. I'm sorry it won't happen again."  
She saw the set of his jaw as he turned to look away from her briefly. She reached out touching his cheek tilting his face to where he was looking at her.  
"There's always after my ribs heal for getting carried away. Besides we've only been dating a few weeks, that's getting ahead of ourselves." she said sweetly.  
Kaiba rolled his eyes "Your one of those?"  
"One of what?"  
"Saving yourself for marriage."  
Joey made a face at him and this time it was her turn to roll her eyes.  
"I never said THAT." she muttered. "Just that.... I want to know that's not what this is about ya know?"  
"Do you think that's all I want out of this?"  
Kaiba cut his icy eyes at her and she could see a certain set to his jaw as if he was worried. She reached up to press the palm of her hand to his cheek.  
"No. I don't."  
Kaiba smiled "Good."  
They sat together in a comfortable silence with Kaiba holding her hand in his as she relaxed laying her head against the pillow. She tried to stay awake a little bit longer but she found herself drifting off back to sleep. Her body started to get heavy and her eyes dropped closed, she was barely awake when she felt his lips press to her forehead.  
"Get some rest I'll see you in a bit." he said softly.

Kaiba watched Joey sleeping for a few minutes before he kissed her forehead telling her to rest. He pulled the blanket up around her shoulders before he stood up turning to leave the room. When he got to the door he turned to look back at her sleeping form one more time.  
She looked so peaceful laying there and he had to admit he was tempted to lay beside her, to hold her. He knew he could have lost her if he hadn't got her out of the water in time, if he the CPR hadn't worked like it was supposed too. He shook those thoughts from his mind letting the cold calculating mask come back over his face, he hadn't lost her and to worry about something that hadn't happened wasn't like him.  
Kaiba stepped out of the hospital room and pulled the door closed quietly behind him. When he looked up he paused, down the hall from Joey's room he could see Duke Devlin leaning against the wall starring at him. He thought about going the other way so they wouldn't have to speak but he decided it would look better for him to continue as if he weren't even there.  
Kaiba walked down the hall ignoring the boy.  
Duke reached out grabbing his arm tightly.  
"Look Kaiba," he said quietly. "You do anything to hurt her-"  
"I would never hurt her, as a matter of fact I've already been the one to save her twice." he snapped. "She's safer with me then she was with you."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Duke demanded bristling.  
"It means why don't you ask her when her ribs were broken." Kaiba said firmly.  
Duke was silent as he released his arm.  
"I promise I'm taking care of her." Kaiba whispered.  
Duke looked up at him and set his jaw before giving a single nod. He walked past Kaiba heading back towards Joey's room.   
Kaiba took a deep breath then continued down the hall, he had a job to do and he had every intention of finding Marik. Marik had kidnapped his brother and tried to kill his girlfriend, he was gonna pay. Just like Hirutani had.


	10. The Gift

They had done it, the Battle City semi finals. They were all relieved to be a part of it but also still worried.  
Joey stared out the window of the blimp after Kaiba had done all of the formal greetings and announcements for the semi finals line up. She hadn't missed how angry he seemed through the whole set up as he spoke to the gathering.  
The semi finals had consisted of: Kaiba, Yugi, Joey, Mai, Bakura, Ishizu, some kid named Namu, and Marik Ishtar. She knew that final entry had been the source of Kaiba's anger, the dark looks he had shot the man when he was speaking could have killed. She knew he was still pissed about what had happened, she was too. The only thing was the only way to get rid of Marik and the power of his milinium rod was for the Pharoah to defeat him claiming it's power.  
She felt strange being around Marik after he had almost ended her life, part of her didn't believe the hulking figure was the one she had been attacked by. She didn't really remember what happened but Yugi said she would have been kidnapped and exposed to the rod by the Rare Hunters when she was used as a mind slave to duel Yugi.  
"There you are."  
Joey looked up to see Kaiba coming towards her from the main area of the blimp.  
"Oh hey." she greeted when he stopped to stand beside her.  
"What are you doing out here? Dinner is just getting started, wouldn't be surprised if your friends started looking for you." he said frowning down at her.  
"I just needed a few minutes alone." she said smiling. "It's just weird being having to be around that guy ya know?"  
Kaiba's face looked strained as he looked out the window "I wish you had let me deal with him when -"  
"I told you that's not a good idea Kaiba."  
"I know. But it sounds like bullshit to me, magic rods? Ancient destiny? Give me a break."  
"Look I don't know if I buy into all of that either but..... I trust Yugi."  
He sighed shaking his head "Hanging out with him is going to get you killed from what I've seen."  
Joey gave him a raised browed look that made him smile, half heartedly.  
They stood staring out the window for a few moments in silence which Joey was thankful for, she had just wanted a few moments to breath. To forget that the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of her and her friends. She sighed, just once wishing they were part of a tournament for fun instead of the end of the world stuff.  
She had to admit that at least the view was nice. She cut her eyes up at Kaiba as he stared out at the city, the company she was getting to keep was nice as well. Joey looked away from the view looking up at him more fully as he turned to stare at her, Kaiba gave a slow small smile.  
"Come on I want to show you something." Kaiba said starting to walk down the hall.  
Joey looked out of the window one more time then followed after him, she shoved her hands into her coat pockets as they walked along the hall. They hadn't really been the hand holding type of couple they found out, his length of stride was enough she had to jog to keep up. Instead they just kept in step with one another in a way that left it to the imagination if they were together or just friends walking along.  
As they moved down the halls they passed the rooms of the other contestants and past the Kaiba brother's private rooms. On the other side of Kaiba's own room was one that had been labeled as her private room. He stopped infront of the room then offered the key card to her.  
"I'll let you do the honors." he said with a hum.  
She looked up at him with a half smirk "You want me to do the honors of opening a door?"  
Kaiba rolled his eyes "Just do it, mutt."  
"Sure rich boy." she said snatching the card with a smile.  
Joey swiped the card and the door swung open. Joey froze in shock at the sight of the room before her, the room had every art supply imaginable to her. Joey walked into the room picking up one of the sketch books and the set of pencils sitting beside the books. She looked in one corner of the room where there was a canvas and paints all still sealed in the wrapping. Every piece of it was more money then she would ever spend on one item.  
Joey sank into a chair putting her hand over her mouth, she knew she was crying.  
Kaiba stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked a little worried as he walked over to her, he kneeled down beside the chair frowning.  
"I thought you'd like it." he said slowly. "Too much?"  
"I - Kaiba.... it's..." she fell silent wiping at her eyes.  
He smiled "I don't think you've ever been this quiet."  
She looked down at the floor and she felt his finger tilt her head up to where she was looking into his eyes.  
"Do you like it?" he asked.  
"I do." she whispered. "Are you going to go over the top every time you want to give me a gift?"  
Kaiba gave her a crooked grin "Probably."  
"I'll never be able to do the same." she whispered back.  
Kaiba rolled his eyes "You don't have too, if I wanted something then I can get it for myself."  
Joey smiled at him almostly sadly then she flung herself into his arms wrapping them around his neck, she felt him hesitate briefly before he wrapped his arms around her. She felt him give her a gentle squeeze being careful of her ribs, before he tilted his head to where he was resting his face in her neck. She could feel his breath on her neck as he settled against her, one of his hands slipping up to cup the back of her head.  
When she finally let him go they leaned back away from each other, Joey looked up into his blue eyes and she felt herself blushing. She could feel her heart starting to pound faster in her chest as he leaned closer, his lips parting and his eyes slowly closing. Joey closed her eyes when his mouth pressed to her's and she relaxed into his arms as she felt one of his hands cup her face, his thumb rubbing over her cheek bone.  
She felt his other arm looping around her body and he pulled the two of them to their feet. She relaxed into his body one of her hands reaching up his body to rest against his chest. She could feel his heart pounding under her hand, the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing got a bit more ragged. They pressed together even more and she ignored the twinge of pain she was starting to feel in her side.  
When they pulled away from the kiss Kaiba's mouth moved down her neck slowly his hands drifting down slowly on the other side of her neck. He drug his finger tips down her neck savoring the softness of the skin, his other hand pulled her hair tipping her head back so he could kiss against the wind pipe.  
Joey let out a soft moan her eyes slipping closed as she focused on his touch.  
Kaiba leaned back looking down at her his eyes half lidded "You like that?"  
Joey hummed approvingly "You have a knack for this."  
"Let's just say you inspire me." he said flashing her a toothy grin.  
Kaiba's hands both wandered down her sides till he came to the back of her knees and he yanked her upwards. Joey let out a squeal as Kaiba lifted her body till her legs were wrapped around his waist resting on his hips. He gave her that superior smirk he got when he knew he had beaten an opponent, she used to hate that look but the longer they were together the more she found she liked it.  
Kaiba carried her with him until he got to the couch and he dropped her down onto the couch letting her fall backwards so she was braced on her elbows. She shot a look up and down him slowly.  
"What are you doing rich boy?" she asked fluttering her eyes innocently.  
"Nothing you don't agree to, Mutt." he assured her removing his coat.  
"Your PR people would have a fit seeing the great Mr. Kaiba acting like a teenage boy instead of a powerful CEO." she teased.  
"Oh so I'm the great Mr. Kaiba am I?" he mocked leaning down over her.  
His hand rested on the back of the couch on one side of her and the other hand rested on the cushion beside her head, he was slowly leaning down towards her.  
"No right now your the teenage boy." she said leaning back away from him.  
Kaiba kept leaning down towards her until she was laying on the couch with him slowly perching his body over her. He didn't let his full wait rest on her but he kept his face close to her's their eyes locked. He rested himself on one of his elbows and let his other hand slowly drag down her body. He rested his hand on her knee slowly pulling it up to where her leg rested over his hip and his body fit against her's more naturally.  
He looked into her eyes watching her reaction as he leaned down to press his lips to her's again.  
Joey let his hands run over her slowly as they kissed each other passionately, she didn't miss when his hips rolled against her the first time. When he rolled his hips again his mouth dipping low to her neck she rolled her hips in response, he moaned against her neck. He lowered down to the neck of her shirt sucking gently at the skin, he was careful not to leave any mark on the skin even though he desperately wanted too.  
They kept moving against one another slowly. Joey felt his hands dip under her shirt his hand pressed to her skin trailing upwards, wherever he touched felt like it was on fire. Even so she still wanted him to keep touching her, to keep burning her.  
Kaiba pulled away from where his mouth had been leaving a trail of kiss on her neck his eyes flicking up to her.  
"You alright?" he asked voice husky.  
She nodded her head quickly and he smiled laying his forehead against her's. His hips were still lifting towards her's but he took a deep breath stopping himself.  
"You see what you've done to me?" he asked closing his eyes. "You make me want you more than I have ever wanted anyone in my life."  
Joey felt herself blush.  
"There's something I want to tell you." he said slowly.  
There was a sharp knock on the door.  
"Joey you in there?"

Kaiba heard the yell from the hall and he heard the knocking at the door.  
He stiffened even more than he already was at least and he looked at the door to her room with a snarl. He hadn't been looking to go much further than they already had right now but he hadn't wanted to be interrupted either. it was a rare day that the two of them got to spend this much time alone together.  
He had been getting ready to tell her about the dreams he had been having. They had mostly stopped after the two of them had started dating but he had had one the night before, he wanted to tell her about it. About how happy the two of them had been, it had been the only one so far that he had had where they were together happily.  
The high Priest had never seen his beloved again when he sent her away, the witch had run away from the knight knowing he took his vows seriously, and then there had been the married woman. The two of them had struggled to try being together and had so many obstacles that they hadn't been able to overcome. He had her in his reach and then she was gone, he hadn't seen very many dreams where he got to stay with her.  
In the dream he had had the night before he was a business man, he traveled through different companies that his father had owned keeping the family business together. He had met a young woman -Josephine- that had a father in business with his father, a marriage would be profitable for the two families. He had started courting her, they fell in love and married quickly.  
He couldn't shake thoughts of his wife (the dream wife) she had looked the most like Joey out of all of them, she had her spirit. The way she had felt in his arms and then..... The baby she had given him.  
"Joey you in there or what?" came a male voice as the knocking continued.  
"You want me to send them away?" she asked softly.  
Kaiba sighed "I have work to get back to anyway. We'll continue this later alright?"  
Kaiba stood adjusting himself and he picked his coat up off of the chair he had thrown it over. He had just tugged the coat back on when she grabbed his arm stopping him for another kiss. He touched her face as he let his hand run gently over her cheek savoring the softness of her skin.  
"Come find me later?" she asked softly.  
Kaiba smiled "If I have time dear."  
She smirked at him as he walked for the door.  
Kaiba pressed the unlock button, the door swung open to reveal Tristan and Duke standing in the hall. Their eyes widened at the sight of him standing in the doorway.  
"Oh we must have gone to far..." Tristan said rubbing the back of his neck. "We're looking for Joey?"  
"This is her room." Kaiba said stepping forward. "I have work to do."  
Kaiba stepped forward backing both of them out of his way and he turned heading back the way they had come earlier.  
"What the hell was he doing in-" Duke began in a hiss.  
"Wow would you look at this place." Tristan gasped.  
Kaiba sighed worried now, he hoped they wouldn't spread the word of what they were seeing. He didn't want rumors starting, they would destroy his reputation and he knew Joey's would suffer more. To many people would talk about what she did to earn such gifts from him, especailly the people that ran in his business circles. He'd heard it before with the other men and their wives.  
As he kept walking he got to wondering if she had thought that was what that was about. He hoped she hadn't thought he was trying to buy her affections with the gifts. He had genuinely wanted to make her happy and the look on her face when she had seen it all had been worth every penny. Those teary eyes looking up at him had made him feel something he had never felt before, he hadn't lied about anything he had said. He had never wanted someone like he wanted Joey Wheeler.


	11. "I'll think about it."

Joey leaned against the wall looking out of the window at the water passing below the blimp, they had finally defeated Marik's evil self and were on their way home to Domino City. They had done the finals at one of the manufacturing towers for Gozaburo Kaiba's weapon plants, after the finals were done Kaiba had the tower blown up. He had erased the negativity that his adopted father had imparted onto his life.  
She wished he was on the blimp so they could chat but he had rescued one little project from the island before it blew up. A Blue Eyes White Dragon jet that he had taken the time to create. She had to admit it was amazing to see the jet go by the blimp like it did and because of the design it had actually slowed down a bit beside the blimp so they could see the pilots. She hadn't missed the smirk that Kaiba had sent to her and the nod.  
She had retired back to her room on the blimp and sat back down at the canvas. She had been working on the painting since the first night they had started the semi finals. She was putting the finishing touches on the painting and had the wrapping canvas paper she was going to wrap it in to send to Kaiba.  
The painting was a Blue Eyes White Dragon in flight with a Red Eyes Black Dragon swooping down towards it from the back. You couldn't see the ground in the painting but there were clouds that the two dragons were flying through. She had signed the painting at the bottom as only Josephine, she knew that using that name sounded better in a professional setting.  
When she had finished the painting she left it to dry while she joined everyone at the last dinner planned before they seperated, they were celebrating Yugi's victory.  
When she joined everyone her friends were quick to get her into a debate they were having about the best place to get a pizza back home. They were already planning to go out for their own little celebration when they got back, everyone except Duke who was being extremely quiet.  
"Duke are you alright?" Tea asked looking at him curiously.  
"Yeah just thinking that when we get back to the city... It's time I go and visit some family out of town." he said his eyes cast down.  
"Are you sure?" Tea asked frowning. "Won't that put you behind in your classes?"  
"Nah I'll take the online courses and graduate on time." Duke said smiling.  
Duke glanced over at Joey and their eyes met briefly before he looked back down at his plate.  
The rest of the evening passed quickly with everyone talking about their plans for when they got back home. The Ishtars were returning home together and had discussed taking work at an ancient history museum. Mai Valentine had plans to take a small vacation before going state side for a tournament. Bakura was just happy to be back to normal and had given Yugi his millinium ring for safe keeping. Yugi and his friends were just eager to take a break.  
"So what's Kaiba going to be working on now Joey?" Mai asked brows raised.  
Joey looked over at the woman and frowned a bit. He had mentioned a few plans but he wanted those kept quiet until he had everything ready to be announced.  
"He's got a lot of plans in the works right now." Joey said shrugging.  
"Oh come on, he had to tell you something about his plans." Mai pressed with a smile.  
"Really Mai, he doesn't have anythihng solid yet."  
She sighed rolling her eyes "Fine since you can't talk about that how about telling us how you two are doing?"  
Joey looked up surprised by the question and she had a slight blush to her cheeks.  
"We're doing good, I guess."  
Everyone asked the young woman about the relationship she had with the young CEO and she was careful with her answers. Kaiba was a private person so she knew he wouldn't want her to tell everyone about their relationship, he hadn't really gone public within the company yet anyway. She knew that he would have to pick the right time to make that announcement so it benefited the company.  
Joey didn't mind the private dating right now, it definitely kept them all out of trouble.

Kaiba and his brother had managed to get back to the city well ahead of the scheduled arrival time of the blimp thanks to his jet. He had made sure to send Mokubah home so his brother could get some rest before he focused on his work at the office. He had to put the finishing touches on the plans for the construction start of Kaiba Land, an amusement park that would center around dueling.  
He had been working on the last few touches on it's plans since before the Battle City tournament, it had been a dream of his to open the theme park since he was a child. He felt now was going to be the best time to start the construction there was so much attention on duel monsters right now. Plus his company was doing fairly well and had a lot of exposure thanks to the Battle City tournament he had just hosted.  
He knew it would finally be a good time to make it work.  
He kept working on the plans until it was late in the evening then he put them away in the messenger tube, he pressed the button on his desk. The door opened and his secretary stepped into the office, she had been working late as well.  
"Yes Mr.Kaiba?" she asked stepping into the room.  
"I need you to hand these blue prints off to the postman tommorow." he said gesturing to the tube.  
"It's going to the contractor?" she asked checking the label.  
"Hopefully we'll be starting the construction next week."  
"I'll take care of it Mr.Kaiba."  
She disappeared out the door and Kaiba checked his watch, it was later then he had thought. He kind of wanted to meet the blimp when it got back into the city, he would be able to see Joey again. Kaiba would feel a lot better when she was back in the city with him.  
Kaiba decided to head back home so he could get some sleep and meet the blimp. He grabbed his suitcase and started walking back towards the elevator so he could head home. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, he knew there was a phone line on the blimp so he dialed it. He got the control room's phone line and asked them to patch him through to Joey's private room, he leaned against the wall waiting.  
It rang a few times and then the phone was answered on the second to last ring.  
"Hello." It was Joey's voice sounding a bit unsure.  
He chuckled "You didn't know there was a phone did you?"  
"Kaiba!" she gasped. "Honestly, no I didn't know about the phone. How are you?"  
"Tired finally heading home from the office."  
"You went straight to the office when you got back?" Joey sighed. "You really need to take a vacation Kaiba."  
"I'll think about it." he muttered. "How are things on the blimp?"  
"Everyone is getting ready to take a well deserved break. A few people have asked what you have planned next."  
He gave a hum "I'll tell you when you get back."  
"That sounds good. You going to meet the blimp tommorow?"  
"And miss getting to see you? I'll be there."  
"I look forward to it."  
"So do I."  
There was a short pause then "I have something for you actually, when I see you tommorow."  
"Oh?" he asked as the elevator doors opened. "Do I get a hint?"  
"Nope."  
"Well then I'll have to make sure I'm on time for the arrival."  
They spoke for a little bit longer while he drove back to his house, when he got back to the mansion they decided to say goodnight.  
"Goodnight Kaiba." she said around a yawn.  
Kaiba chuckled "Goodnight Joey."  
When they hung up he made his way into the mansion.

Kaiba laid down in his bed with a sigh, he had to admit there wasn't anything quite like being in his own bed. The one thought that kept coming to mind was the only thing better than being in his own bed would be if Joey was here to share it with him. He pulled one of his extra pillows to his side holding his arm over it burying his face in the pillow with a sigh, he couldn't wait for Joey to be back in the city.  
Maybe he could talk her into staying with him for a few nights once she was back. As he drifted off to sleep he could almost feel her arms around him.  
It took Kaiba a moment to realize that he had started to dream and it was another one of those realistic dreams he had been having. He felt her arms around him in the darkness and then he felt her body press to his, he moaned as her mouth found his. He began to run his hands over her curves savoring the smoothness of her skin, she gave her own breathy moan as he rolled the two of them over to where she was under him.  
He felt her legs part to where they were wrapped around his hips, he moaned. Kaiba felt her hands on his back nails digging lightly into his skin. He slid his arm around the back of her neck holding her closer to himself.  
"Seto." she gasped quietly.

"We'll be landing in about fifteen minutes." the voice said over the intercom.  
Joey had her bag slung over her shoulder and the painting canvas in her other hand, ready to head out. She was surprised she was happy to be home, it would be so great to be back in her bed. She sighed, she wasn't looking forward to the laundry and house cleaning she had ahead of her now that she was back.  
When it was closer to time Joey stood up and walked out to stand with the rest of her friends at the doors. The KaibaCorp employees informed them that there was a small crowd of folks and reporters waiting to see the new King of Card games. They had a few people on the ground keeping the crowd back but they couldn't garuntee their privacy outside of the landing area.  
Yugi groaned and admitted he wasn't looking forward to answering all of those questions. Ever since Duelist Kingdom he was always having to deal with people coming to question him about his success at the game. They always wanted to bring up the fact that he had beaten Kaiba and ask how it felt to take the title away from him. He knew they would definitely ask those kinds of questions now, especailly since it had been his tournament.  
When they landed and the doors swung open the flashes on the cameras started going off focusing on Yugi.  
As he got off of the blimp Joey held back trying to look through the crowd but she didn't see Kaiba. She hesitated there looking for him until her friends called her down to them saying she needed to come be seen by the reporters. She was a runner up after all for the second time in a row.  
Joey followed them down but stopped briefly when she spotted one of Kaiba's personal assistants, Roland.  
"Hey Roland is Mr.Kaiba here?" she asked touching his arm to get his attention.  
"Ms.Wheeler," he greeted then paused. "He was supposed to be here before the landing but I haven't seen him. He had a meeting this afternoon that he may be running late for. Would you like me to call him?"  
"No that's alright. Would you see that he gets this later, if you have the time?" she asked holding up the covered canvas.  
"It would be my pleasure Ms.Wheeler. Is there anything else?" he asked smiling and nodding his head.  
"No, thank you Roland." Joey said smiling.  
Joey had to admit she wasn't too surprised he hadn't made it to the landing, he would have known there would be reporters and wouldn't have wanted to speak with them. He would have decided to go to the meeting or he may have forgotten since he was overworking himself so much.  
She told herself she wasn't surprised. And she wasn't disappointed, that would be ridiculous.

Kaiba gave a low groan pulling the pillow back over his head as the pounding continued, he was still half asleep and didn't want to get up. Besides, his alarm hadn't gone off so he had a little bit more time to sleep. The knocking stopped briefly before his door was slung open and he was forced to look out from under his pillow.  
Mokubah was standing in the door with his arms crossed over his chest a frown on his face.  
"Seto you can't really be going to sleep all day are you?" he demanded.  
"My alarm hasn't even gone off." Kaiba grumbled pulling the blanket over his head again.  
He heard his brother walking towards the bed and could tell he had stopped by the bedside table, to examine his alarms no doubt.  
"Your alarm has shut itself off from you not responding to it." Mokuba said.  
Kaiba jerked up into a sitting position and turned to see his brother holding his phone up for him to inspect. He snatched the phone from him and went through his alarms his gut sinking. He had slept through his alarms, both of his alarms. He had missed his meeting at the company and he had missed meeting the blimp landing, he could only imagine what was being said on the news about him not being there.  
As he got up to get dressed and started towards his closet it hit him. He was supposed to meet them blimp if for no other reason than to see Joey.  
Kaiba took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration and he gave a sigh.  
"I'm going to go get the cook to prepare an early dinner." his brother called stepping into the hall.  
Once he was gone Kaiba grabbed his phone and scrolled through to Joey's number. He knew she would probably be angry since he had said he would be there and he would rather text her to avoid arguing. He hit dial instead because he had never backed down from anything in his life and he wasn't going to start now, he wouldn't admt that while he waited for her to answer he chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously.  
"Hey Kaiba." she answered after a few rings.  
"Hey." he said hesitantly.  
They sat in silence for a moment.  
"Was that all?" she asked chuckling. "I didn't take you for a breather Kaiba."  
"I-" he coughed clearing his throat. "I figured you would want to start a lecture for me missing the landing this afternoon."  
"Jeez Kaiba, thanks for the vote of confidence." Joey said laughing. "I talked to your brother and he told me you were half dead when you got home."  
Kaiba thought about it and knew that it wasn't far from the truth as tired as he felt.  
"I'm surprised you aren't mad."  
"I was at first but I thought about it, decided being mad wasn't going to accomplish anything."  
"Okay. Where is Joey and what have you done with her?" he asked jokingly.  
"Funny." she sighed "I got Roland to take care of your gift. You'll have to go in to the office to see it."  
He gave a hum turning to his closet getting dressed in some comfortable clothing for around the house.  
"I'll be sure to look at it first thing." he promised. "So what are your plans for tonight?"  
"Well...." she said thoughtfully. "I thought about inviting myself over to your place."  
"Since when do you need to be invited? That never stopped you even before we were dating."  
"That's true."  
"When will you be here?"  
His phone clicked and he saw that she had hung up on him. Kaiba frowned then looked up as there was a knocking on his door, he sighed. He should have known.  
When he opened the door Joey was standing in his hallway looking up at him with a friendly smile.  
"How long have you been here?" he asked brow raising.  
"I went home and did a little cleaning before coming over so ... about an hour." she admitted.  
"Why didn't you wake me?"  
"I checked on you when I got here. Can confirm your brother was right, you looked dead."  
He shook his head extending his hand to take her's as they walked down the hall towards the stairs. He knew that dinner wouldn't be far off from ready.  
He noticed Joey was looking comfortable in grey sweat pants and a sky blue t-shirt he had seen her wear to sleep in.  
"Did you walk over here dressed like that?" he asked frowning.  
"I may have brought a few things with me." she said shrugging.  
"Planning on staying awhile?"  
"For a few days." she hummed. "Since I'm so good at inviting myself places."  
Kaiba gave her hand a squeeze, they both knew how he felt about her being in his home. She already had all of the codes and keys to the house if she needed to get in when he wasn't home. He already felt like she was a part of the household even though she insisted she wouldn't be moving in so long as her lease with the apartment was still in effect. She wouldn't leave her apartment till a few months after graduation.  
When they got downstairs he could already smell food being set out for them. He heard Joey take a deep breath and let out a sigh of pleasure at the smell.  
"Something smells delicious. I'm starving." she hummed.  
Kaiba shook his head "When aren't you hungry mutt?"  
"I am always hungry, rich boy."  
They all sat down together for dinner and the brothers were amazed by how much food Joey could eat, Kaiba had to admit he was a bit impressed. The cook certainly felt proud of herself for the meal after seeing that it had been so enjoyed by the guest.  
After dinner the three settled in to watch movies in the large den. Mokuba sat in the chair closest to the tv, while Joey and Seto laid on the couch together. He would sneak looks at the two every so often to see that his brother had fallen asleep with one arm resting over Joey's back as she laid on his chest dozing off slowly. When the movie went off he stood up declaring that he was going to turn in early.  
His exit caused Seto to jerk awake again. When the two were alone he glanced at Joey thoughtfully and they sat up.  
"You need to get some real sleep." Joey said brushing her fingers through his messed up hair. "You're going to make yourself sick."  
"I'm sure you'd take care of me if I did." he hummed laying his head back against the couch.  
"I'd think about it."  
They chuckled together for a moment.  
"So I put in the last of the paperwork for the theme park yesterday, construction starts immediately." he told her cutting his eyes her way.  
"That's great Kaiba." she said smiling. "You must be excited right? Your childhood dream coming true like that."  
"It's still a ways off." he said shrugging.  
"But it's a start, don't be so gloomy."  
Kaiba reached out taking her hand, looking down at their locked fingers curiously.  
"What would you say if I asked you to let KaibaCorp sponsor you from now on? With a condition of course." he asked not looking at her. "Well two conditions anyway."  
Joey's eyes widened and she laughed rubbing the back of her neck nervously.  
"Damn Kaiba that's a big deal, your company name on the line and everything. I don't know if I'm as good as all that now." she said slowly then turned looking at him. "What about you, I thought you would be ya know carrying the company name?"  
"I'm going to a break for awhile I think. Focus on other things for now, but I still want the company name out there."  
"What's the conditions?"  
"The first one is I'd like to train you. You could be a first rate duelist with some actual well thought out strategy in play." he said smirking. "We would start by trading out a few of your cards of course."  
Joey stuck her tongue out at him "That doesn't sound so bad, I guess. Red eyes stays in my deck."  
"Of course."  
"What's the second condition?" she asked laying on his shoulder.  
Kaiba was silent to the point where Joey lifted her head to look up at him. His face was an unreadable mask but she could tell he was nervous by the way his eyes flicked around her face slowly.  
"You eventually will have to change your name...." he said avoiding her eyes.  
Joey sat up slowly "You can't really be proposing? Really?"  
Kaiba coughed and looked away "It's just an idea and it doesn't have to happen anytime soon. Your still in high school after all."  
Joey just stared at him for a moment before looking down at their hands. Kaiba wished she'd say something, anything to get rid of the awkward silence stretching between them.  
"I'll thinkk about it." she muttered.  
"What?"  
"I said I'll think about. I can agree to the first condition but we'll talk about the second more later."  
"My PR people will have to announce our involvement in some way, I just thought an engagement would be more-"  
"You can say we're dating." she said pointing at him. "You'll have to do better than that for an engagement."  
Joey stood up and stretched then extended her hand to him, he took her hand letting her pull him to his feet.  
"Where are we going?" he asked.  
"You need sleep so we're going to bed. Maybe you'll be thinking straighter in the morning." she said laughing.  
"Whatever you say mutt."


	12. Better then a Dream

Over the next several months things progressed much easier for the couple and for KaibaCorp. With the announcement of KaibaCorp. sponsoring Joey she began to work in the professional dueling circuit and started saving up money from her wins. This freed Kaiba up from having to keep in the spotlight for the company to where he could focus on the business side of things and the progress of his theme park.  
He was a lot happier at the end of each day and had more time to spend at home relaxing at night instead of more paperwork. He spent more time with both his brother and Joey thanks to the freed up time, plus he was training Joey when they had time.  
Once the sponsorship had been announced the public relations department of his company had agreed that they needed to also announce that she was dating the CEO. They released the information before announcing what tournaments she would be attending for the company for the remainder of the year.  
Kaiba had hired private instructors to finish Joey's high school education at an accelerated rate to where she wouldn't fall behind in classes during her traveling. He did note for the first few weeks she had a lot of adjustments she was making to where she could get enough sleep between schooling and tournaments. At that time a lot fo their time spent together was taking naps at the Kaiba mansion.  
It took awhile but once everything was settled in she was able to start spending time with her friends as well. To make her happy Kaiba got his brother to invite them over to spend time at the mansion with her. They still gave him a mostly wide berth to keep out of his way but he made the effort to stop in to be sociable, he liked the way it made Joey smile.  
It was one of the few weekends she didn't have to prepare for a tournament that he asked if she wanted to have a friendly duel. They hadn't dueled since Battle City and he knew she had improved since then because she had been coming out as the top duelist in the last few tournaments she had been sent to. He wanted to get a feel for how well she could handle herself especailly with the newer deck.  
He wasn't surprised when he beat her again but he was surprised how much he had to work for it this time. Before when they had duelled she never really had him on the ropes, he was always confident in his abilities to bring it back around to his win. This time around she had him fighting for the top position in the duel and for once she kept a poker face.  
The poker face had been one thing they insisted she work on when they sponsored her, she was never very good at keeping how she felt in duels bottled up. She didn't have that problem with this duel and Kaiba was surprised by how much she had put into her training.  
At the end of the duel Kaiba pulled her into a passionate kiss, his hands cupping her face holding her to him. When he pulled away from the kiss she was breathless and flushed.  
"Wow." she gasped. "Damn rich boy what are-"  
He cut her off kissing her again his arms sliding around her back pulling her body flush to his, when they pulled away this time she didn't say anything.  
"I'm impressed with how seriously you've taken all of this." he whispered.  
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked smiling shyly.  
"Just... the Joey I first met when I started at your school always seemed to not take anything seriously." he admitted "Getting to really know you, your so much different than I expected."  
"Thanks?" Joey said brow raising.  
Kaiba chuckled shaking his head. "I just mean you've been so business like these last few months that I know we'll be a good match."  
Joey laughed then shaking her head "That's what made you realize we'd be good together?"  
"One of the things." Kaiba said brushing some of her back. "I .... I love you."  
Joey's eyes widened.  
"I love you too." she said swallowing.  
Kaiba hesitated a moment then he leaned down pressing his forehead to her's.  
"Would you like to come back to the room with me?" he whispered.  
They had been sitting in his office for the duel and when they had finished hadn't really made a move to leave the room. When the words left his mouth he regretted them at first as he saw the worried look in her eyes briefly.  
"If you'd rather not then it's -" he began.  
"No. I mean, no I don't mind. We can go back to the room." she said nodding slowly.  
Kaiba chuckled taking her hand as they walked back towards his room.

Once they had closed themselves in the bedroom Kaiba stepped over to the chair in the corner of his room to remove his boots and his long coat. He looked up at Joey who was blushing as she slipped her jean jacket off of her shoulders hanging it on the door knob to the closet before she slipped off her shoes. He watched her for a few seconds until she turned to look at him with wide eyes and he gave her a smile.  
"What are you staring at rich boy?" she muttered looking down face getting redder.  
Kaiba smirked "Just looking at you mutt."  
Joey sat down on the edge of his bed watching as Kaiba started pulling off his coat and then he pulled his belt through the loops setting it aside. He watched her for a few moments and then he pulled his shirt off tossing it to the side, left in just his pants. He saw Joey's eyes going over him and she turned away seeming embarrassed, rubbing at the back of her neck.  
"You alright?" he asked softly.  
Joey turned to glance at him and she smiled seeming embarrassed still.  
"Yeah, fine." she said smiling. "Didn't realize you'd be so fit."  
Kaiba gave a slight hum, he hadn't much time to work out but he did keep himself in shape. He wasn't ripped but he had defined muscle compared to someone who didn't work out.  
Kaiba stepped towards the bed where she was sitting and he reached out putting one of his hands to her right cheek, thumb rubbing over her lower lip. Her skin was always so soft and warm, she closed her eyes with a sigh of contentment at the touch. After a moment he reached up with his other hand to stroke his fingers through her hair slowly.  
Kaiba leaned down pressing his mouth to her's and he felt her nervous energy as he moved his mouth over her's slowly. He felt her open her mouth letting his tongue press into her mouth so he could taste her. When he pulled back Joey leaned forward putting her hand lightly over his chest, he gave a low moan pressing his mouth to her's again. He moved slowly as he kept leaning forward and slowly laying Joey back into the bed.  
When he was stretched over her, her arms slid around his neck pulling him closer to her. She let out a quiet moan as his hands started to roam over her body, dipping down below her shirt to touch her skin. Kaiba slid his mouth down to her neck nipping and sucking gently on the skin, this time he didn't worry about leaving marks on her skin. He sucked on the skin and kept running his mouth lower down her body.  
Joey let out breathy moans one of her hands grabbing at his hair pulling lightly.  
"Kaiba." she gasped.  
Kaiba smiled pulling away to lift her shirt more slidding his body down to her waist to kiss on her slim stomach. Kaiba sat back to help her remove her shirt and leave her in a black bra and her pants. His eyes swept over her slim waist and her handful sized breasts clothed in black. Kaiba leaned back down kissing her open mouth and his hands roamed her body eagerly as her legs parted for him to settle against her.  
He began to roll his hips as he ran his hands over her skin, savoring the smooth skin. Kaiba slipped one of his arms underneath her body holding her closer to his chest and then slid his other hand down to grab her hip. With his weight resting over her body she was effectively pinned to the bed her hips slowly lifting to meet each of his rolls.  
"I want you." he whispered against her mouth.  
Joey was breathless as he moved his mouth to her throat again.  
"Yes." Joey moaned.  
"Yes?" he asked softly.  
Joey nodded her head as he pulled away to look at her.  
"Josephine." he whispered softly.  
She looked up at him blushing and she chuckled a bit.  
"Seto."  
Kaiba hesitated for a moment, the way she said his name sounded so much like the other women. The ones from his dreams, the ones that had never really worked out. It made his heart sink a bit as he pulled away from her to meet her large brown eyes, she seemed surprised herself. He gave her a small smile and shook his head lightly.  
"That just doesn't sound right ...." he admitted chuckling.  
"Yeah Kaiba sounds better." she agreed. "And I'd rather you call me Joey, ya know?"  
"I can agree with that."  
Kaiba stared at her for a moment before he got out of the bed to start removing his clothing. He could feel her eyes on him and he knew he heard her getting out of the other side of the bed to do the same. He gave her a bit of privacy slidding beneath the blankets letting her do the same without starring to hard at her.  
Once she was under the blankets with him, Kaiba turned to onto his side to look at her and she gave him a small shy smile.  
"Joey." he said softly.  
He reached forward to touch her face and moving slowly so as not to startle her he began to run his hands along her body. He watched her eyes widen as he brushed over her body and the pupils dialated while he watched her. Kaiba smiled as she shuddered under the touch.  
"Kaiba." she moaned her eyes closing.  
Kaiba pulled her closer to him, his mouth pressing to her hungrily as they began to press together. As their mouths pressed together Kaiba rolled their bodies to where she was laying on her back with him ontop of her again. Joey's legs wrapped around Kaiba's hips and he moaned against her mouth eagerly. He wrapped his arms around her just as he had before one slid behind her back and the other lifting her hips to meet his own.  
He met her eyes as he pressed into her and he saw her eyes widen before slipping closed in contentment as she moaned. Kaiba let out a sharp breath at the sensations now, he laid his forehead against her shoulder lightly.  
"You feel so good." he moaned.  
They sat like that for a few moments before they moved, savoring the new feelings together. When both had adjusted to the new movements they began to move their bodies together. They stayed tangled together running their hands over each other's body's.  
Kaiba remembered all of the dream women he had held like this recently and knew that holding his Joey - the real Joey- was so much better than he imagined.

When they were both satisfied they laid beside one another in the bed catching their breath. Joey and Kaiba had found out early on in the relationship that they weren't big on cuddling. They would hold one another briefly but they rarely if ever laid wrapped in each others arms for longer than a few minutes at a time. So when they had finished they both laid facing each other speaking softly together.  
Joey was about dozed off when she jerked awake turning to grab her phone.  
"What time is it?" she blurted digging around for her phone.  
"I don't know. Does it matter?" Kaiba asked sitting up on his elbow to watch her.  
"Yeah kinda." she admitted glancing at him. "It's Tea's birthday, we were all going to meet in the city and go do something she wants for awhile."  
"Oh." he said then turned to look for the phone.  
"You wanna come with us?" Joey asked smiling over her shoulder at him. "I'm sure everyone would be happy to see you."  
"I don't know, I may stay and do some work in the office." he sighed.  
Joey frowned then turned to look at him, his back to her as he searched for his own clothing. She left off her search and stepped over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.  
"Come on Kaiba." she whispered. "You need a break every now and then right?"  
"You're impossible you know that?" he asked untangling from her arms.  
Turning around to face her he gave Joey a look, his brows raised in question. She just gave him a sweet smile and lifted her hands in a silent begging motion.  
Kaiba sighed deeply rolling his eyes "Fine. I'll go with you."  
Joey smirked throwing her arms around his neck knocking the two of them off balance, causing them both to fall backwards onto the floor. They landed in a heap on the floor both of them laughing light heartedly as they laid on the floor, when they had calmed down a bit the two of them met each other's eyes.  
Joey leaned forward pressing her lips to his and she felt his hand start to drag slowly up her back, his fingertips light on her skin. She hummed happily against his mouth as they seperated.  
"I love you." she whispered.  
"I love you too." he said touching her face lightly.  
Joey smiled back at him then got back to her feet offering her hand to him, he took it and she hauled him to his feet.  
"Come on rich boy. We need to get ready and then go meet the guys in the city." she said smiling. "We probably don't have a lot of time to get ready."  
Joey headed for the bathroom to get the shower ready for the two of them to rinse off before they dressed. While waiting for the water to warm up Joey looked into the mirror, noticing the bruising on her throat.  
"Kaiba!" she gasped turning red. "What did you do?"  
"Well I didn't know we had somewhere to go." he said defensively.


	13. Manipulated

About two weeks later Joey had to leave for a tournament and would be out of the city for the longest she had been gone for one. She would be facing off against people of the caliber of Pegasus, Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, Mako Tsunami, and Mai Valentine who were all involved in the competition. They would all be competing for a cash prize and a title, though one not as prestigious as the King of Games like Yugi's.  
While she was gone things took a turn for the everyone back home.  
Kaiba began to hear voices in his dreams - not like his own voice like the dreams he had had before- one that was deep and demanding. It told him he should be ashamed of how soft he had become, that the Pharoah -or Yugi- should be defeated. He should be the King of Games, he was the one who deserved the titles and honors that came with being the best. He could defeat Yugi if he could only get rid of the God cards. The voice assured him there was a way to destroy them and defeat the pharaoh, he must simply go to the source of the cards.  
Kaiba ignored most of what the voice said until the news started replaying the interviews with Yugi because they were asking when the King of Games would be dueling the new runner up, Joey Wheeler. She was coming out in first in all of her duels lately, it only seemed a natural progression that she should duel her friend Yugi. They mentioned it wold be an amazing feat to see her defeat him where Seto Kaiba had failed.  
The newscast put him on edge and brought the voices back to the front of his mind. When he saw that Pegasus had lost his duel and was returning to his island home in the tournament he made plans to pay him a visit. He would have his god destroying cards, he would have victory over Yugi and regain his title.  
When he paid the man a visit he explained that he had a card that could beat them and thy duelled for the card. Of course he found out the man was lying to him, there were two cards.  
Now he only had to get Yugi to his newest duel dome built a few months prior.  
When he got Yugi to come see him, he of course refused Kaiba saying he didn't want to duel him. Telling him that there were dark forces at work forcing them to take these steps to allow it a foothold in their world. At first he listened, having been with Joey and heard her stories this long he knew that there was more to the world than they understood. But as he listened to Yugi that voice started to whisper in his ear again.  
'He tricks you. He fears you.' the voice whispered. 'He does not want you to humiliate him like he has you time and again. Beat him in this duel and reclaim what's yours.'  
He mocked Yugi for believing in the mystical mumbo jumbo he was spouting and the heart of the cards he always preached on. He demanded that Yugi duel him or publicly forfeit his title to him. he knew that Yugi would not hesitate then to accept the challenge.  
They would have their revenge. 'They?' Kaiba wondered shaking his head. 'What was he thinking?'

Joey got off of the plane in the airport and peered around curiously, she didn't see anyone waiting to meet her. Frowning, she pulled her cellphone out dialing Kaiba,Tea, and Tristan not receiving an answer. This worried her to the point where she stepped out into the street throwing her bag over her shoulder jogging along.  
It was almost impossible to get a cab in this part of the city but she knew she could make the run to the game shop to ask Grandpa what was going on. Joey jogged along the side of the road towards the game shop and when she got there she found it empty, this didn't sit well with her either. She turned towards the door intending to head for the mansion to look for anyone since it was the next closest location to look, out of everywhere Kaiba would be recently.  
When she stepped outside she didn't miss the beam of blue light shooting up into the sky. She froze in place staring at the beam like most of the others on the street.  
She looked towards the light frowning.  
"The duel dome." she muttered then took off running.  
She didn't really know what to expect as she ran for the building, Kaiba had been getting a long with her friends so well and had even seemed to feel a bit better about being around Yugi all the time. He had shown no signs of wanting to harrass him into duels like his old self had been interested in doing. She couldn't imagine what would have happened to have changed his mind so suddenly.  
When she reached the duel dome sweaty and panting heavily as she walked up the steps she could see that there was damage to the buidling. Part of the roof had caved in on itself and for a moment she worried that someone may have been hurt in there.  
Joey went inside the glass doors and tossed her bag aside running through the halls to the main duelling arena that had been built at the center of the dome. If Kaiba was dueling then that's where he'd be.  
When she burst through one of the doors she came face to face with an unexpected sight. A pyramid of shimmering blue light sat in the center of the duel dome and was the source of the beam shooting into the sky. When focused on she could just barely make out two figures standing inside the pyramid across from each other, one was Kaiba and the other was Yugi she was sure of it. As she approached the pyramid she noticed two other figures standing outside of the pyramid with her.  
"Grandpa? Mokubah?" she called running over to them.  
"Joey!" they exclaimed seeming relieved to see her.  
"Boy are we glad to see you." Mokubah said pointing to the duel. "Maybe you can figure out how to get through this thing."  
"Can anyone tell me what's going on here first?" she asked worried.  
"We don't really know but things started to go crazy when my brother played the pyramid of light."  
"I've never even heard of it." Joey said frowning.  
"I have but the one I've seen wasn't a duel monsters card it was an Egyptian artifact like the millinium puzzle." Grandpa Motou said shaking his head. "And if I'm right this all has to do with an ancient legend surrounding Anubis."  
"Anubis?" Joey whispered then louder. "The lord of the dead guy?"  
"The very same."  
The three of them looked back towards the pyramid their faces creased with worry.  
Joey stepped forward away from the other two extending her hand to towards the blue wall of light. When she touched it the light whipped at her hand giving her a shock that made her cry out in pain yanking her hand away. As she flexed her hands to get feeling back in her fingers she strained to see through the wall to see if anyone inside had noticed the disturbance. They appeared solely focused on one another.  
"I don't think we get in that way." she muttered.  
As they circled the pyramid attempting to find a way to bring it down from their side the ground began to shake throwing them off balance. From above them more pieces of the roof began to collapse falling to the duel dome floor. As they pressed together looking for an exit they worried they would be crushed.  
As they realized the exits from here had been blocked they were suddenly aware of the sounds of an approaching helicopter. They looked up in shock and saw Pegasus leaning out the open door of his helicopter as he tossed them down a rope ladder to get to him.  
"I'd hurry up if I were you!" he called down to them.  
The three quickly climbed the ladder getting off the ground and out of the way of falling debris. When they were on the chopper Pegasus explained he had come to the same conclusion that Grandpa had come to regarding what was happening in the duel below them. As they were flying overhead the group watched the dome below them and notice two figures laying on the second floor balcony overlooking the arena.  
"Hey isn't that Tristan and Tea?" Joey demanded pointing.  
Everyone followed where she was pointing and nodded.  
"We'll circle around and the pilot will hover long enough for us all to make our way down there. Is there an emergency exit to the street from their?" Pegasus asked turning to look at Mokubah.  
"Yeah there is and it shouldn't be blocked by anything." the boy said nodding.  
"Sounds like a plan then, I'll go down first." Joey said taking the position on the ladder.  
She made her way down to her friends first with the others following spaced out a bit, they checked on the two but nothing they did could wake them.  
"What I read at the museum says the pyramid of light has to absord souls to gain power." Grandpa said frowning. "I fear we may be too late, unless Yugi and the pharaoh can succeed against Kaiba."  
"Let's get one thing straight for a minute here." Joey said glancing at the pyramid. "Whatever is going on down there that ain't my Kaiba. That's Anubis using him and I don't like it one bit. You say Tristan and Tea are trapped in that thing?"  
"Yes I'm afraid so."  
"How do we get them out?"  
"I don't know if that's possible from out here."  
Joey and the group fell silent as they stared at the two friends laying against the wall where they had leaned them. She stood turning to look at the pyramid, she finally noticed the red glowing swirling mist surrounding an eye in the center. She felt a pull in her chest that drew her towards the red orb, she stood up straight facing the red eye.  
"I'm going to get them out of there if I can, if nothing else maybe I can help." Joey said pointing to the red orb.  
"You can't be serious what if you can't come back? What if you're trapped?" Mokubah demanded grabbing her arm.  
Joey fell silent for a moment looking into his eyes.  
"Then tell Kaiba ...." she began. "Tell Kaiba, I'll see him next time around."  
Everyone looked a bit concerned.  
"He'll know what I mean." Joey said smiling stepping up to the railing towards the pyramid.  
She felt the pull and as she seemed to hover above her own body she watched Pegasus catch her falling body. Then she felt herself being drawn into the pyramid of light, it stung as she felt her spirit tore through the magical light. When it was over she found herself floating in an old stone room above mummies trying to attack her three friends - Yugi, Tea, and Tristan.  
When she was brought into the room she could see a light come from her soul startling the mummies and her friends.  
"Joey!" They cried hopeful as they saw her.  
"Hi guys."  
"What are you doing here?"  
"You're kidding right? If you guys ever need me then you know I'm there." she said as the glow faded dropping her towards the mummies.  
She was so glad that she had taken martial arts.

When Kaiba saw the blast coming towards the pyramid of light he could hear the voice begin to scream in rage, it caused him to wince in pain crying out on his own. The card shattered and as the Pyramid of light faded away they were in the rubble and destruction left of his duel dome.  
Kaiba looked around the duel dome in mild horror, what had he done? He had worked so hard to get on the right track and now, he was taking so many steps back. He never would have done this, not without an outside influence to his actions. The voice just laughed.  
"Show yourself!" he yelled "I hear you, why don't you stop hiding?!"  
A shadow loomed before him on the ground showing that someone very tall and very large was behind him.  
"Kaiba behind you!" Yugi cried his hand reaching out as if he could help him.  
A large hand grabbed Kaiba by the top of his head yanking him from his feet and he didn't even have time to cry out as he was hurled to the side. He hit the ground on his left arm and rolled. His arm and head hurt him.  
Through bleary eyes Kaiba lifted his head to see what was happening. He saw the large dark skinned man turn to look at him as he began to speak to Yugi calling him the Pharoah. He laid his head back down to the floor letting his eyes fall closed in pain.

Joey, Tristan, and Tea stayed on the balcony as long as they could watching the duel until Yugi had defeated the evil Egyptian man. The three of them cheered on their friend then they were shocked as the ground began to shake even more letting more rubble start to fall towards them.  
Anubis had announced that the monsters were real now because of his being in the mortal realm with them so Pegasus used his monsters to hold rubble off of them. They called out encouragement to their friend before starting to run for the exit.  
Joey hesitated seeing an injured Kaiba laying on the ground unmoving, she decided quickly what she was going to do. Climbing over the rail she turned dropping to grab the floor so that she could drop to the floor below with less of a fall between her and the floor. When she landed she skirted the duel as Anubis turned his gaze to her with a snarl, she just glared back at him as she ran for Kaiba.  
When she reached him she kneeled beside him turning him onto his side slowly.  
"You should leave here woman. Don't tempt me to start with you to destroy the world." Anubis snarled pointing to her.  
"The Pharoah will stop you." she hissed. "And I'm not leaving Kaiba."  
Once he was turned onto his back Joey lifted his head to lay into her lap, her fingers brushing his sweat dampened hair back from his face. She stayed there covering him when any attack in the duel through dust or debris in the air towards them, when the duel started to end he began to stir. He stared up at her as she used her body to protect him from anything that might sling their way.  
"Joey?" he asked softly.  
She looked down at him then back up to the duel. Yugi had just brought Anubis's health points to zero, causing the man to begin to melt. With the threat out of the way she turned her eyes back down to him with a smile.  
"Hey rich boy." she whispered.  
"What are you doing here mutt?" he asked touching his head. "What happened?"  
"I'll tell ya later. You okay?" she asked leaning back so he could sit up.  
"I think so." he said softly.  
"Kaiba! Joey! Are you two okay?" Yugi cried running over to the two.  
"Yeah I think we're all okay." Joey assured him.  
Before she had even finished speaking there was suddenly the sound of chanting in the air and they saw a black ooze begin to bubble up from where Anubis had been standing. The three of them jumped to their feet as a large four legged beast stood from the ooze. The beast was the same color as the ooze with dark red eyes, sharp fangs, and large spike starting to rise from it's back. It turned towards the three of them looking at them with malice in it's eyes.  
"I will have what is mine." it roared in Anubis's voice. "The monsters I will summon shall destroy your world."  
"We have to stop him." Yugi gasped.  
Suddenly Kaiba and Yugi's duel disc exploded in sparks and cards. Their decks flew around them scattering to the arena floor as Anubis roared.  
"You can search your decks from now until doomsday but I'm afraid you are just one card short." he snarled.  
"Well I'm not." Joey yelled drawing her deck. "Go Red Eyes Black Dragon, go Kaiser Dragon!"  
The two monsters flew forward attacking the beast but it's head turned with it catching the Kaiser dragon in it's jaws. Joey cried out in pain -as just like in a shadow game she felt her monsters pain- falling to her knees. The Red eyes was quicker to dodge it's open maw as it turned trying to take out the other attacker.  
Seeing his chance Kaiba rushed to one of his cards snatching it off of the floor, he knew he didn't have the strength left to use the card so he turned to Yugi.  
"Yugi use this!" he yelled tossing him the card.  
"What is it?"  
"It's the only thing that can beat him. A real monster." he assured him.  
Yugi looked at the card then turned to Anubis holding the card up.  
"Go Blue eyes Shining Dragon. You wanted a real monster Anubis well now you've got one." Yugi yelled. "Blue eye use Shining Nova attack."  
When a blue light filled the sky this time it was a sign that they had won, the Shining dragon destroyed itself and Anubis.

When the dust had cleared from the attack the three stood panting and giving nervous smiles to on another. They hoped it was over.  
They were joined by the rest of their friends and Pegasus who looked at all of the destruction in awe while they let Kaiba get treated for his injuries.  
"So is it over?" Tea asked hesitantly.  
"We should check that old stone tablet at the museum just incase." Grandpa said.  
"Oh, please old man no one can get whooped like that and still come back. No one except our Kaiba boy here. Oops did I say that out loud?" Pegasus said overly cheerful.  
The group gave slight chuckles as Kaiba joined them looking a bit pale.  
"I'm sorry any of this happened." he admitted shaking his head.  
"He manipulated you." Joey said stepping forward to stand beside him.  
He gave a scoff then turned to her "You were there when I woke up."  
"Well, yeah?"  
"You could have been killed. All that debris, what if you had been hit?" he demanded turning red. "What were you thinking?!"  
Joey scowled jabbing a finger into his chest "I was thinking I wasn't going to let my stupid boyfriend get himself killed before I had a chance to give him a piece of my mind!"  
"Fiance." he corrected suddenly.  
She jerked in surprise then frowned. "Since when?"  
He took a deep breath shaking his head "Since now."  
Kaiba made a face as he got down onto one knee looking up at Joey.  
"What are you doing?" she asked her voice breaking.  
He smiled, he loved when she was speechless and as he listened he realized everyone behind him had to be holding their breath. He glanced behind him to see many pairs of wide eyes focused on them.  
"This isn't how I planned this." he muttered. "But it feels appropriate. Joey Wheeler will you ... marry me?"  
Joey stood eyes wide and filling with tears her hand slowly covering her mouth. She didn't say anything and Kaiba was starting to feel stupid sitting on his knees like this when suddenly she flung herself forward. Her arms circled his neck and if he hadn't been holding himself up well she would have knocked him over.  
"You- you-" she muttered sounding happy and frustrated. "Of course I'll marry you."  
"Thank god because I don't know when I'll see you this happy that I'm being crazy again." he said wrapping his arm around her.  
When she pulled back from the hug he used one hand to pull her in for a passionate kiss while he heard her friends let out cheers behind them. When that was over the two stood facing her friends, Pegasus, and his brother.  
"I have to leave but you must invite me to the wedding." Pegasus said smiling as he shook everyone's hands.  
"It'll be one of the first I send." Joey said when he shook her hand.  
"About time someone straightened Kaiba boy out." he whispered with a wink. "Congratulations my dear."  
When he swooped out of the room towards the exit they turned to talk together. They all made plans for a proper celebration of the two's engagement and they slowly bid them goodnight.  
When it was just the three standing in the duel dome they stood in silence looking over the destroyed building, they were glad no one had been working when the building collapsed. No one had been harmed and they would start rebuilding as soon as possible, when that was mentioned Kaiba said he had priorities first that would be done before then.  
"Like what?" Mokubah asked.  
Kaiba looked at his brother and his fiancee who were starring at him curiously.  
"Well Joey Graduates in a month and after that there's the wedding. Then Kaiba Land's grand opening." Kaiba listed smiling.  
They started out the door chatting and Joey slid her arm around his waist with a smile.  
"Don't suppose you'd settle for a small wedding?" she asked.  
"I wouldn't dream of it." he said giving her a wicked smirk.


	14. Plans

Kaiba sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose looking across his desk to Joey and the then he cut his eyes to the wedding planner with a pleading look. She just gave him a shrug and a smile.  
"I'm not wearing white." Joey muttered "I can agree to all this other expensive stuff we've talked about like the food, that weird looking cake you showed me, and all the flowers. I draw the line at wearing white."  
"It's tradition." Kaiba sighed shaking his head. "It's just for one day."  
"So is waiting for the wedding night." Joey said giving him a look.  
The wedding planner coughed turning red, Kaiba was sure their faces were equally red right now.  
"Look all I'm saying is, if I have to wear a dress can't I be comfortable in it at least?" she said holding her hands out.  
Kaiba frowned for a moment "That's fair. What's so uncomfortable about the color white though?"  
"After labor day?" She joked voice filled with mock horror.  
"For the love of-" he began.  
"Why don't you wear white?" Joey asked leaning forward. "White suit, blue tie and shirt it would fit you perfectly."  
"Oh really?"  
"Mr.Blue Eyes White Dragon? Yeah it would fit you perfectly." she said with a smirk.  
Kaiba frowned thinking about the possibility, it would fit his personality and go with what they had discussed for the celebration after the wedding. He glanced over at Joey and tilted his head curiously.  
"How do you feel about wearing black then?" he asked.  
"Black?"  
"And carrying the red roses."  
"It would make for striking photos." The designer quickly agreed.  
Joey smiled "I see what your going for and yeah that sounds good. We can try to schedule a day to look for the dresses, Tea has been looking forward to the shopping for the past week."  
Kaiba chuckled and nodded his head "You'll look in the stores that were agreed on earlier?"  
"I shop at a thrift store one time.." she grumbled standing up. "Yes rich boy I will shop at our agreed upon stores from now on. Happy?"  
"Immensely." he said giving her a smile.  
The designer told them she would start making phone calls to get everything arranged for the big day, which was getting closer.  
They had planned to have the wedding the day before the Kaiba Land grand opening and that night have the reception in one of the on location hotels that was built. They were going to make their wedding reception part of the official opening of the theme park and the next morning they were starting the tournament. They had planned both events to take place at Kaiba Land since it had been such a big focus of Kaiba's time this year.  
Once the designer had walked out of the office, Joey came around the desk towards him and dropped herself down into his lap. He gave her a stern look but she just gave him an innocent smile putting her arms around his neck. Kaiba sighed putting his arms around her pulling her tighter against his body with a smile.  
"You're going to have that woman convinced we hate each other before out wedding you know that?" he asked softly.  
"Nah, I'm sure we're what she's used to seeing." Joey said laying her head against his shoulder giving a small yawn.  
"You didn't sleep very well last night." Kaiba said softly.  
Kaiba had felt Joey tossing and turning most of the night beside him. She had finally fallen asleep late in the evening and he had watched her for a few moments noticing the worry on her face even after she was alseep. He hadn't wanted to press her on the sleepless night, he knew she was under a lot of stress trying to plan the wedding when she had the spare time to do so.  
"You didn't sleep very well last night." he said stroking her cheek. "Is it the stress?"  
She was silent for a moment before she sighed and sat up, not meeting his eyes.  
"Joey?" he asked frowning.  
"My dad called me yesterday." she said slowly.  
Kaiba's frown deepened "What did he want?"  
She had told him about her father and what kind of man he had been when she was growing up, how she had spent most of her time practically living with her friends when she could. That was the whole reason she had been in the apartment when they had started dating, she had finally saved enough money to get out of her horrible home life.  
"Said he wanted to meet somewhere and talk, told me he saw the papers announcing the engagement." she sighed pressing herself closer to him.  
Kaiba felt her press her face against the side of his neck. Gently he started to rub small circles on her back.  
"Are you going to see him?"  
"I don't know."  
"Do you want to?"  
"Not really."  
"Then don't." he said firmly.  
Joey sighed "You don't know him. If I don't see him then he's going to stick around."  
"Have him come to the mansion and talk, introduce us."  
Joey snorted and pulled back to look at him "So what happened to Hirutani can happen to him?"  
It was Kaiba's turn to look innocent "I don't know what you're talking about to my knowledge nothing happened to him."  
"Because he's missing." Joey said eyeing him. "You're never going to tell me what happened are you?"  
Kaiba just smiled at her and Joey chuckled. Other people might have been scared of him smiling like that after their discussion but Joey knew she could always trust him.  
"You have my word at most I'll insist he leave and encourage him to never come back." Kaiba said with a smile.  
Joey gave a hum and shook her head with a laugh.  
"I'll think about it." she said then checked the time. "I've gotta go meet the guys at the cafe for lunch. You going to eat?"  
"Meeting Mokubah for lunch so yes I'll be sure to eat."  
"Alright I'll see you back at the house then." she said giving his cheek a quick kiss.  
Kaiba grabbed her wrist stopping her as he stood pulling her to him again. He leaned down pressing his lips to hers, his free hand cupping her cheek gently.  
"I'll see you soon." he promised.  
They stepped away from each other both saying "I love you" as they turned back to their own duties.

Joey arrived a few minutes late to the lunch meeting she was having with her friends. When she walked into the cafe she saw they had already picked out a booth in the very back and she made her way to them. Before she could sink into the empty seat beside Tristan he leapt to his feet turning to her.  
Before she could question him he threw his arms around her and lifted her in a bear hug.  
"Tristan... Tristan... I need to breath." Joey gasped.  
"Oh sorry." he said slowly putting her back on her feet.  
She looked at him giving him a curious look.  
"We just saw each other a few days ago man. What's up?" she asked.  
"I heard back from the college I've been applying to and they said I've been approved for my first year." he said with a huge smile.  
"Congrats man that's awesome!"  
"Yeah great job Tristan." Yugi said smiling "I didn't know that you had been approved for a scholarship yet."  
"I wasn't." Tristan said turning to look at the rest of his friends. "I was denied for any financial help with school. When I called and asked the dean of the college he said two anonymous benefactors paid for my first year in full."  
They all turned to Joey with wide eyes but she looked as unreadable as if she were wearing a mask, she often looked like this when she dueled now. They realized it was really similiar to the face that Kaiba wore when he was hiding something or dueling. It was scary how similiar they were now.  
"That's great Tristan does it really matter who paid though soo long as you're in?" Joey asked slidding into the booth.  
"You can deny it all you want but I know it was you." he said pointing at her. "You and Kaiba."  
Joey gave him a small smile crossing her arms on the table leaning forward to look at her friends.  
"Whatever you say pal." she said smiling.  
The four sat together talking about their plans for the future. Tristan and Joey were the first to graduate out of their friend group, then Tea would, with Yugi finishing last. Joey was just intending to continue working in the duel circuit and work for KaibaCorp however she would fit in. Tristan was going to college for Engineering intending to stay in Domino City and work in that field. Tea was planning on moving to New York city to start working as a broadway actor or dancer. Yugi was undecided on what career he wanted to undertake but he knew when he graduated he wanted to travel to Eygpt to see the home of the Pharaoh.  
They talked about the wedding and how planning was going for it. Tea was going to be the bridesmaid in the wedding with Tristan and Yugi giving Joey away. She didn't want her father to be a part of the wedding or even one of the guests in attendance.  
As they sat talking everything over Joey glanced out the window to the street, she paused when she thought she had caught sight of her father. When the vechiles passed by at the change of the light she didn't see anyone out in the street who looked like him and she wondered if she was just seeing things. She wondered if she had been thinking about him too much today and that was why she thought she had seen him.  
She turned back to the others but her paranoia kept making her turn to look out the window. Her friends were quick to pick up on her sudden change of mood.  
Joey told them her dad had gotten in touch with her and had asked to see her. She was sure he was wanting to ask for money, he had not tried to contact her until the paper announced her engagement. They agreed it sounded fishy and agreed with Kaiba that they wouldn't meet with him if it were them.  
Joey didn't respond to them anymore then she did to Kaiba.  
When they had finished eating and chatting the four left the cafe walking along the street towards the game shop. All four of them were on edge as they walked now looking around for their friends father, though it had been so long since they had seen him they wouldn't know him on sight. During the whole walk to the game shop Joey felt a chill against the back of her neck like she was being watched.  
Joey spent a few hours there with them before she had to head home for the evening. Tristan left at the same time she did, neither of them would admit it was because he was too worried to let his friend walk home alone.  
"Do you really think he's somewhere watching you?" Tristan asked after they had been walking in silence for awhile.  
"I don't know just a creepy feeling I have ya know?" she admitted looking at him.  
Tristan nodded "You don't think he'd do something stupid do you?"  
Joey gave him a look and he chuckled.  
"You're right I should know the answer to that." Tristan said shrugging.  
"I just feel like if I don't meet him then he's going to be hanging around just watching." she said softly. "But at the same time if I do see him I have a feeling on how it's going to go."  
"Have you told Kaiba?"  
"He knows he's around. I don't if I want him to get involved or not."  
Tristan scoffed "I mean what's he going to do, it's just Kaiba."  
Joey paused in her walking and Tristan did the same with the two sharing a look.  
"Do you remember Hirutani?" she whispered.  
"That gang leader you used to run with? Yeah I remember him."  
"He was reported missing by some family he has in the area." she admitted moving closer to Tristan. "He would have disappeared after he attacked me with his boys, I went to Kaiba that night. I think he was responsible for the disappearance."  
"You- are you sure?"  
"You know he'd never admit it."  
"Is ... he safe to be around?"  
"I trust him with my life so I'd say yeah."  
The two started walking again towards Kaiba mansion.  
Kaiba had finally talked her into letting him pay off her lease to allow her to move into the mansion with him since they were now engaged. He had argued that she would be safer living with them now that her name was out there, his enemies may try to use her to get to him. She had joked that he didn't have enemies but the look he gave her quickly convinced her otherwise.  
When she got back into the mansion with Tristan leaving soon after the phone in the livingroom began to ring. She walked over to the phone answering it.  
"Hello?" she said, expecting it to be one of her friends.  
"Hello Josephine." a gravelly male voice said.  
Joey froze with her mouth going dry and she was left speechless for a moment.  
"Not going to greet your dear old dad?" he asked.  
"What do you want?" she demanded instead.  
"Can't I just want to see my daughter without there having to some motive behind it?"  
"You never have before."  
He made a noise on the other end that sounded like a laugh but it ended in a coughing fit.  
"Are you sick?" she asked frowning.  
"No just these damn cigarettes, I should really quit ya know?" he said laughing.  
Joey just gave a hum then turned slowly pacing around the room, she noticed Kaiba standing in the doorway.  
"I want to see you." her father said over the phone.  
"I don't know if that's a good idea."  
"I'm your father."  
"You've never been much of one so the answer is still no."  
"I will see you. I can get as close to you as I want and you'll never know it till I want you too. I saw you when you were with your friends and when you walked home. Tristan certainly hasn't changed since the last I saw him."  
Joey tensed and her eyes snapped to the window looking around the yard, she knew he couldn't possibly be on the grounds they had to much security for that. She still felt a gut twisting fear at the thought.  
Before she could speak again Kaiba was already beside her taking the phone from her hand his eyes locked to her's as he reached out with his free hand to stroke her cheek.  
"This is Seto Kaiba." he said his voice like ice. "You call this house again, my people will find you and they will be the last ones to see you. You have been warned."  
Kaiba turned hanging the phone up turning to look at Joey.  
"You alright?"  
She nodded silently before she put her arms around his waist burying her face into his chest. She felt one arm slide around her waist and the other started to stroke the back of her head gently. They stood like that in silence for a few moments before Kaiba released her to lead her up to their room.


	15. Unwanted Company

Joey stood infront of the mirror as the woman adjusted the hem of her dress sticking pins in the dress to hold it in place. She could see Tea sitting to the side of them in the reflection and she was watching eagerly, they both had been to buy their dresses. Tea had been fitted first with the length being changed on her dress which had been easy, Joey's dress had to be let out at the waist.  
They had joked she was eating all of that fancy food from the Kaiba's chef and was getting gaining a bit of weight because of it. Joey had to admit she loved to eat and with all of the running she had to do lately she needed the extra energy.  
When they had finished with their fittings they gathered their things promising to be there when the alterations were complete. Joey would be by to make the final payments when she picked up both of the dresses, the woman eagerly agreed knowing the Kaiba family reputation.  
When they were out on the street Joey glanced around, she had that creeping feeling a lot more often. Her father hadn't tried to contact her again but she still felt like she was being followed or watched.  
It didn't help that she knew for a fact she was being followed by Roland, Kaiba's right hand man in the company lately and what was usually his personal body guard. Kaiba had ordered him to watch over Joey whenever she went out and had insisted that he would feel much more secure if she was protected. Joey felt comfortable around Roland and trusted him to watch over her.  
"Roland we were going to get some coffee next. What would you like?" Joey asked as they walked.  
Joey and Tea walked a bit ahead of him with Roland insisting that he not walk to closesly to them. He wanted them to feel they had a little bit of privacy while they were taking care of the wedding business.  
"A regular coffee black no sugar." he said looking away.  
He knew better than to say he didn't want anything because she wouldn't believe him.  
Joey and Tea stepped into the shop to order while Roland watched the street waiting for them outside. While they were making their order Joey looked around the shop and noticed the man in the very back corner watching them.  
He had shaggy dirty looking blond hair, his eyes were a dull brown, his face covered in stubble, and his skin pale. His face was long and drawn, his features looking sharp due to lack of weight. He was wearing rumpled clothing and had a pack of cigarettes sitting on the table infront of him. His eyes were focused on the two young women at the door. Joey hadn't seen him in a long time but that was definitely her father.  
Joey swallowed hard turning her eyes to look at Tea.  
"The man in the corner." Joey said in a whisper.  
Tea looked her face surprised "Is that him?"  
"Yeah."  
"We should go," Tea said grabbing Joey's arm. "And let Roland know who he is."  
Joey nodded her head and the two turned for the door.  
The man stood up snatching up his cigarettes walking towards the two.  
Joey and Tea stepped back onto the street moving quickly back towards their waiting bodyguard. When they glanced back over their shoulders they saw the man step out of the shop his eyes turning to watch them as they walked away from them. The two immediately pointed him out to the bodyguard who turned towards the man, he told them to wait there for him as he walked away to confront him.  
Joey and Tea watched as the man turned the opposite way on the sidewalk heading away from them. Roland followed him partly down the street but decided it would be best to stay with his charges instead of risk following the man.  
"We should get you home Ms.Wheeler and then I'll drive Mr. Gardener home." Roland said gesturing for them to keep walking.  
"Thank you Roland." Joey said her eyes worriedly darting behind them.

Kaiba set the phone back down and turned his chair to look out of his office window. Roland had just informed him that he had dropped Joey at home after they had encountered her father on the street. He had known where they would be, he hadn't needed to follow them like they thought he would. This worried Kaiba.  
How long had the man been following Joey before he had approached her? Had he been planning this for a long time?  
He knew that Joey liked to frequent a lot of the same places when she went out so she was very easy to follow from place to place. He had checked in on her a few times like that when she went out with her friends, he could usually find her within minutes of searching for her. So he knew she was always fairly easy to find.  
Shaking his head Kaiba grabbed his things from the desk and hitting the intercom to speak with his secretary.  
"I'll be out of the office for the rest of the day, if anyone calls for me then take a message please." he said into the intercom.  
"Yes Mr.Kaiba." his secretary said quickly.  
Kaiba headed out the door towards his private elevator pulling his cellphone out dialling Joey's number.  
"Hey rich boy." she said when she answered.  
He could hear the tv going in the background.  
"Hey mutt, I'm calling it a day early today." he said smiling. "What are you up too now?"  
"I know Roland called you about my dad." she said "So I'm being a good dog like you'd want and staying at the house."  
Kaiba chuckled "Thought you didn't buy into that fetish like behavior."  
"I could be persuaded besides, I'm tired so a night at home sounds good."  
"You're overworking yourself."  
"If YOU'RE saying I'm overworking myself it must be true." she said chuckling.  
"I'm usually right anyway."  
"Don't worry I'll be home when-"  
Joey fell silent suddenly and Kaiba frowned worried.  
"Mutt?"  
She shushed him over the phone and he fell silent as the elevator door swung open letting him out into the halls heading for parking. He heard the tv cut off on the other side and he knew Joey must be up walking around.  
"Mokubah didn't stay home from school today did he?" Joey asked her voice low.  
"No he didn't, he's going to one of his friends after school."  
"Someone's upstairs."  
Kaiba felt like he had been shocked as he came to a halt in hs tracks.  
"Get out of the house, I'm one my way home." he told her. "Stay on the line with me."  
Joey promised she would stay on the line, she told him she was making her way to the back door which was closest to her. He listened to her as she moved and he heard the loud crash of glass accompanied by Joey's shocked scream. There was a thud on the other line which made him believe that she had dropped the phone, it was followed by what sounded like it being kicked around on the ground.  
There were muffled voices on the other side, they would get louder but he couldn't make any of the words out. When there was nothing but silence on the other end he pulled the phone away briefly to make sure they hadn't been cut off. Once he was certain he was still in the call with Joey he put the phone back to his ear.  
He heard heavy breathing on the other line.  
"Joey?" he asked tensely.  
"Hello Seto Kaiba." the man's voice from the other night greeted him over the phone.  
The line went dead before he could say anything else.

When Kaiba got to his house the security team was already waiting for him with apologies already forming, they lead him to the back of the house where the altercation had happened. Some of the vases from the floor above were broken on the first floor, he was sure that was the shattering glass he had heard. In the middle of the broken glass was Joey's dropped phone, there was no sign of Joey herself.  
There was signs of a struggle in the hall. Tables were knocked over and items from one of the wall shelves were scattered to the floor.  
Kaiba looked anywhere for signs that Joey had been harmed during the fight. He didn't expect her father to try harming her but if she refused him whatever he was after then he knew that the man may become violent. As he looked at the debris he corrected himself, he could become more violent then he already was.  
Kaiba turned away from the debris to see Roland coming inside the house, he had just returned from returning Tea to her home.  
"Mr. Kaiba, I'm sorry. I've failed you." he began.  
"No." Kaiba said shaking his head. "Do you remember what I asked you to do for me months ago, with Hirutani?"  
"Yes sir." he said straightening.  
"I need you to do it again." Kaiba said sternly.  
"Yes sir." Roland said turning heading back out the door.  
Kaiba smiled a bit relieved but then he turned heading out of the house again ordering security to keep the house as it was until he said otherwise.  
There were very few people who knew that before Roland had started working for KaibaCorp for his father he had worked for a secret service in the government, though no one knew which government. He had been fairly closed mouth about it, to Kaiba's fathers disappointment. When he had taken over the company he had made it clear to Roland that his past didn't matter so long as he was loyal to the new president of the company. He had agreed and Kaiba had treated him fairly so that the man would always feel benevolent towards him.  
So far Roland had been the perfectly loyal friend he had needed.  
Kaiba headed for Yugi's school knowing they would be getting out of class soon and he would be able to question them.

Joey was sitting in the dark tied to a chair listening to someone moving around just outside of the room she was in. She was certain they weren't in the room with her because the sounds were muffled and she made sure to stay quiet as she struggled against the binds.  
Her father had somehow gotten into the mansion and got the jump on her. She should have known to be on guard, everyone said she had gotten her sneaky ways from him when she was younger. The gang she ran with had said she took after him- her father being a former gang member himself- and she was respected for the skill. She knew that she had been able to find her way onto the grounds before so it only made sense that he had found a way in.  
Joey pulled against the tight bindings trying to get it loose, he had used duct tape on her wrists. He had shoved her sleeves up -so that it was her skin the tape was stuck too- to tape her to the arms of the chair. She tried to move her legs and found they were taped at the ankle to the chair as well.  
Joey leaned back in the chair waiting patiently for something to happen. Anything to happen.  
Joey leaned her head back down closing her eyes just as she had found herself awakening in. She would stay like that as she tried to figure a way out so that maybe she could avoid her father when he came back into the room. She knew he would make his demands knowing that she would not be able to meet the demands while tied to a chair. This would anger him regardless and he could become violent when he was angry.  
The door to the room opened and she heard the shambling footsteps enter the room. He hadn't moved like that back at the house so that meant he must have been drinking while she was out.  
"Josephine." he slurred loudly. "Damn it girl wake up."  
She didn't move and held her breath briefly to keep quiet.  
Suddenly the flat of his hand slapped across her face, stinging sharply with a loud echo in the room. The blow turned her head towards the wall and she slowly righted her face looking up at him. She didn't speak, her cheek was still stinging after the blow.  
"I need money." he blurted "I owe- I owe some people."  
"I don't have any money on me." she said coldly.  
He had left the door behind him open as the only source of light, he could see her face clearly enough but she couldn't see his face. He was standing in shadows.  
"That boy... Seto Kaiba has money." he said slowly. "You could get him to give me the money."  
"How would I do that from here?" she demanded.  
He lurched forward grabbing the arms of the chair jerking the chair forward so his face was in her's. He was breathing heavily in her face smelling of booze and the hands holding her chair were shaking.  
"I will get you to talk to him, we'll call just like I did the other day." he said his voice desperate. "If he won't give me the money for you then I - I will just have to give you to them to pay my debts. Yes that might work. Maybe I could do both."  
"What?" Joey blurted "You're crazy."  
He slapped her across the face in the same place again with a yell of rage.  
"I am not crazy. You're just like your mother. She left me too." he yelled shaking the chair. "You both left me."  
Angrily he shoved the chair away from him, knocking the chair to the floor with a hard shove. He turned back to the door stomping back into the hall. The door slammed behind him but it didn't close instead it swung on it's hinges staying slightly ajar.Joey was left laying on her side, taped to the chair, and in the dark.  
She was starting to regret telling Kaiba not to treat him like Hirutani.

Kaiba went to speak with Yugi and Tristan back at the game shop questioning the two on any habits they might have known her father to have. They were unsure of his habits when it came to where he might frequent if he was going to kidnap someone, they asked why he wasn't trying to find him using some of his tech from the company. Kaiba assured them he had that already being taken care of, he wanted to be out looking for when he got word on some kind of lead.  
As they talked Tristan fell silent rubbing his chin.  
"Did Joey ever take you by her old house? Where her family used to live?" he asked.  
"No she didn't she always said she'd rather not go back there." Kaiba said narrowing his eyes at him. "Could he have gone back there?"  
"Last I heard the house was empty." Tristan said shrugging. "I mean it's where he lived when his wife left him so maybe he'd go back there? I don't really know."  
"It's as good a start as any." Kaiba said turning around whipping out his phone calling Roland.  
Yugi and Tristan exchanged looks as they followed him out of the shop, they weren't to sure what was going on. As they followed Kaiba out, Tristan whispered they needed to watch themselves around Kaiba at least until they got Joey back. He explained what Joey had told him about the gang leader she had worked for disappearing.  
The two were silent as they followed Kaiba out to his car, they slid into the car with him and then set off down the road. They sat in silence save for when Tristan had to lean forward to point out the way they are supposed to go. Kaiba was driving when his phone rang.  
He pulled his phone out of his pocket checking the I.D. He frowned, he must have been expecting a certain number but it wasn't it. He answered the phone and put it on speaker setting down the phone on the center console of the car.  
"Kaiba here." he sighed.  
"Hello Seto Kaiba." a man's voice said breathing heavily on the other end of the line. "I'm sure you remember me."  
"Yes I do. Where's Joey?" Kaiba demanded his voice dripping venom.  
There was silence for a few moments before anyone answered.  
"Seto?" Joey asked.  
Kaiba tensed "Are you alright?"  
"Yes." she said slowly. "Kaiba he needs money there are people he owes."  
"That's not our problem."  
"I can make it your problem." her father interrupted. "I've already made a call, they will take the money or I cann trade them my daughter."  
Kaiba's jaw clenched, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.  
"I will do it, Seto Kaiba." he said.  
There was suddenly a crash from somewhere on the other end of the line.  
"Who-? No they can't have found me." her father blurted.  
There was the sound of her father dropping the phone and leaving the room. They could hear noises in the house.  
"Kaiba did you send someone?" Joey asked voice sounding distant from the phone.  
"It should be Roland." he assured her.  
Kaiba was still driving towards the house having to navigate through traffic.  
"Are you at your old house?" he asked.  
"I think so. He's kept the place really dark so I can't see very- Someone's coming."  
They listened for a few minutes in tense silence, Kaiba was driving along the road into what was an older neighborhood. They listened as the sound of someone entering the room.  
"Roland!" Joey cried out in relief.  
The sound of the phone being picked up was what they heard next "I have Ms.Wheeler, she's safe."  
"Her father?" Kaiba asked face slipping back into the cold mask.  
"Secured." Roland said shortly. "I'm going to bring Ms.Wheeler outside now sir."  
Tristan and Yugi exchanged looks with each other, they worried that they should probably say something about this. When they got to the house Roland and Joey were standing outside the house, which looked lik eit was falling apart. When the car stopped the two got out of the car and ran to their friend as Kaiba put the car in park.  
They all exchanged brief hugs and then they let her go as she flung herself into Kaiba's already opening arms. He pulled her close to him, his face buried into her hair as he closed his eyes. He breathed out a sigh of relief and then pulled back to look down at her, they didn't miss the frown that slipped over his face.  
"HE hit you." Kaiba said his voice cold.  
Joey's right cheek was slightly bruised and discolored. She touched her cheek and frowned slightly looking up at the him, she gave him a somewhat sad smile.  
"Yeah he did." she admitted.  
Kaiba's eyes flicked up to Roland and he gave him a slight nod.  
"Kaiba your not going to do anything rash are you?" Yugi asked worriedly stepping forward.  
"Yeah I mean the police should be the ones to -" Tristan began.  
"He will be removed unharmed." Kaiba said shortly his arm going around Joey's shoulders.  
The two of them made their way back towards the car, as Roland turned going back to the house. Yugi and Tristan hesitated before they followed the couple back to the parked car. They slid into the back seat and watched the two sitting in the front seat  
Kaiba reached out taking her hand in his own, holding them between them in the middle of the front seat. They watched as he stroked his thumb across the back of her hand gently.  
Kaiba was a force to be feared and had a few of the connections his adopted father had before his death. But as they watched him they realized as they thought about it, he had never used those connections before.


	16. The wedding

Joey stood infront of the mirror with Tea standing beside her helping her with the finishing touches on her makeup. The black dress she wore was floor length, form fitting till it reached the skirt then it gave a bit more room so she could walk without issue, it didn't have a train dragging behind her, and if anyone looked at the skirt carefully they would see a rose pattern in black lace with a red shimmering in the fabric. Red glitter.  
Her makeup was a bit darker with the black eye shadow, dark red lip stick, and concealer that matched her natural skin tone hiding any imperfections. She wouldn't be wearing a veil so the effect the makeup had of making her look older wouldn't be wasted today.  
She was wearing black heels that were new. She had borrowed a pair of black fingerless lace gloves from Mai Valentine, one of her bridesmaids. She was also carrying one of her older drawings folded and hidden into one of her gloves. She also had the engagement ring on her hand - she was never sure if she was supposed to wear it today or not- it was a white gold wedding band and had a bright blue sapphire as the center stone.  
She had all of the traditons covered, except for wearing the white.  
All of the bridal party plus Tristan and Yugi would be wearing the black. The women would be carrying red roses and the two men were wearing the same flower in their lapels.  
It was the grooms party that were wearing the white and blue. Kaiba was supposed to be standing at the alter with his best man Mokubah and his groomsman Roland would walk Mai down the aisle. They would all be wearing white suits with blue shirts and matching ties. They would also have the white roses in their lapels.  
As Joey picked up the collection of roses she would be carrying the door behind her opened.  
Tea turned to look at the door to see Mai Valentine - the two girls in matching bridesmaids dresses- peeking into the room a huge smile on her face.  
"Everyone's ready when you are, Wheeler." she said giving her a wink. "Not getting cold feet on us are you? There's still time to run for it."  
Joey chuckled turning to look at the other two "I'm ready. How's everything look?"  
"You're kidding right?" Tea asked chuckling. "Every surface is covered in roses and I got a look at the food for after, Kaiba doesn't spare any expenses does he?"  
"Of course not." Joey said shaking her head.  
"They haven't brought the cake out yet but I'm told it looks fantastic." Mai said as they walked to the entrance doors.  
They were having the wedding at the rentable ballroom and accompanying large dinning room in the hotel for the Kaiba Land theme park. They would be having dinner in the dinning room after the ceremony and the people they hired would clean up the ballroom quickly so they could come back out for the dancing before the cake was cut.  
When they got to the entrance Yugi, Tristan, and Roland were standing there waiting for them. Everyone got into position with Roland and Mai infront; followed by Yugi and Tea before Joey walked down the aisle with Tristan.  
They all got into the correct line up and waited a moment for their cue. When the music started the kids, doing the small jobs Kaiba had given them, went out first getting to the alter and then going to their seats with their parents. Once they were seated Mai and Roland started out the door next.  
"Nervous?" Tristan whispered glancing at her.  
"A bit." Joey admitted then shrugged. "I haven't really been practicing in these heels."  
"Don't worry I won't let you fall over." Tristan said smirking. "You'll do fine."  
"You've always got my back, man." she said with a relieved sigh.  
"Well you've always had mine."  
They watched as Yugi and Tea started out the doors into the ballroom. They both gave each other a look before their cue to walk in was given.  
Tristan and Joey straightened up walking in the steps that they had been practicing to keep from looking ridiculous. They managed to make the walk look graceful despite the fact both of them expected to trip over their own feet. As they moved along the aisle, everyone stood turning to watch the two as they made their way to the alter.  
It gave them a good view of the guests that were in attendance. There were the people that Kaiba worked with on a daily basis, some of his higher up employees, and Pegasus was sitting on the groom's side. On the bride's side was Grandpa Motou, the three Ishtars, Duke Devlin, Rebecca, her grandfather, Mako Tsunami, the people that had been traveling with Joey for tournaments, her old art teacher, and a few other duelists that Joey had kept in contact with from the tournaments she had been in.  
In the very back of the ballroom were the reporters that Kaiba's public relations people had insisted be present just to get some good publicity for the theme park. They of course had to obey a few rules he had put into place which was to remain quiet during the ceremony, not question people if they weren't interested in an interview, and to stay out of the way of the photographers that had been hired for the wedding.  
Failure to follow the rules would see them thrown out and all of Kaiba security would ban them from further events.  
As they walked down the aisle Joey could see Kaiba watching them with a smile. When they were at the front standing infront of the alter, the preacher stepped forward to begin the ceremony. He read a few scriptures and lead the group in a small prayer before turning to ask who was giving the bride away.  
Tristan told him that he was giving her away in place of her father, when he placed her hand in Kaiba's he whispered he wanted him to take care of his best friend. Then he walked back to take his seat beside Yugi on the front row of the bride's side of the seating.  
Kaiba and Joey turned to face one another with her handing her roses to Tea behind her with a nod.  
The preacher began the official ceremony, as he talked about the wonderful qualities of love and how it was a blessing to spend their life with someone they love. He droned on for a few minutes then took a breath finally coming to the next part, he informed the guests they were their to bare witness to the joining of Seto Kaiba and Josephine Wheeler.  
"Seto Kaiba repeat after me -" he began and continued with Kaiba joining him.  
"I vow to be with you in sickness and in health, for better or worse. For rich or for poor." he said his eyes looking into her's as he slipped a wedding ring onto her finger. "I vow to stand by you, support you, and love you for the rest of our days."  
"Now you Josephine Wheeler -"  
"I vow to be with you in sickness and in health, for better or worse. For rich or for poor." She said slidding his ring onto his hand as he had done for her. "I vow to stand by you, support you, and love you for the rest of our days."  
"Now with the rings exchanged you may now kiss your bride."  
Kaiba pressed a gentle kiss to her lips that Joey responded too.  
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined let no man tear asunder." the preacher said as they seperated. "I have the honor of introducing you all to Mr. and Mrs. Seto Kaiba."  
The crowd all stood applauding the new couple as they turned to face the guests, then Kaiba pulled her along with him back down the aisle followed by the rest of the people at the alter.  
"The bride and groom would like to invite all of you to join them in the dinning hall for a reception then after they will cut the cake." he said to the crowd.  
The preacher gathered his things then made his exit as well so that the employees could begin their cleaning.  
Kaiba lead Joey out towards the area where they would be doing photos for the wedding. Before they had stepped into the hall Kaiba pulled her to a stop leaning down to press his lips to her cheek then slide his mouth to her ear to whisper to her.  
"You look beautiful." he said softly.  
Joey blushed then pulled on his tie a bit. "You don't look so bad yourself rich boy."  
He gave her a wink and they continued to the photo shoot for the wedding. It took maybe twenty minutes for them to finish doing the pictures but by the end of it they were all starving. They all drifted to the reception dinner after they finished their pictures so they could get some food.  
When they sat down at their table and their plates of food were sat infront of them they began to dig in. Kaiba gave Joey an impressed look at the portions of food she was devouring, she smiled embarrassed.  
"I was too nervous to eat earlier." she said blushing.  
Kaiba shook his head "You really need to take care of yourself."  
"That's what I have you for now." she said giving him a wink.  
Kaiba smiled at her and he reached out taking her hand as a few people stepped over to the table congratulating them. They had a few people come by while everyone was eating and at one point during the meal Pegasus came over saying he had left a specail gift for the two with Roland for later. He then thanked them and said that regrettably he wouldn't be able to stay for the remainder of the celebration.  
Once he had breezed out of the room they exchanged a look and shrugged curiously.  
"Why'd we invite him again?" Kaiba asked with a sigh.  
"He did help save your life after Anubis." Joey said looking at him with raised brows. "It was the least we could do really."  
"I suppose."  
"Plus, you two have started doing business again. It would be rude not to include him you know." she said.  
Kaiba made a humming noise then glanced at her "How long do you think we should stay before we could slip away without being inappropriate then?"  
Joey smirked "You're acting like a horny teenager again."  
"You bring that side out in me."  
Joey gave him a look as they were joined by her friends who were congratulating them with wide smiles. They asked them questions about what their plans were for the honeymoon. The two exchanged a look and smirked at one another, they had agreed before hand that they weren't telling anyone where they were having their honeymoon. The only one that would be able to contact them would be his younger brother and he would only have the phone number in case of emergencies.  
They didn't want to be bothered by anyone while they were away.  
After the reception they went into the ballroom again for the cake cutting and the dances that were supposed to take place.  
The cake itself was very much in line with both of their tastes, the cake was swirled with white and black decorative icing that lead up the cake to the cake toppers. The cake toppers were one Blue Eyes White Dragon and a Red Eyes Black Dragon. They did the cake cutting with a bunch of cheers from the crowd and the photographers got a few good shots of the scene. Once they had done the cake and the guests were being served the two slipped off to the side to speak together quietly.  
The first dance for the couple was brief as neither of them really liked dancing, they were much more comfortable standing together to the side. For the other dances Kaiba danced with Tea, Mai, and Ishizu in turn since they asked him too. Joey danced with Yugi and Tristan, then Duke asked permission from Kaiba to dance with her. Kaiba smirked and agreed to let the man dance with her, he told him he trusted to two then gave him a wink.  
When the dances were over the two stepped to the side watching the guests dance together. Joey commented that Tea and Yugi were looking very comfortable together, they exchanged knowing smiles. They figured the two would eventually realize they liked each other but right now they were still acting like friends.  
They watched their friends together, enjoying the party and toasting the marriage of the two.  
"You think they'd notice if we slipped away?" Kaiba asked putting his arm around her waist.  
Joey glanced around the room, no one was really paying attention to them. Even the reporters weren't paying them to much attention now.  
"I think we may be able to slip out now." she said nodding. "It's a bit earlier than we had planned at first isn't it?"  
Kaiba smiled slightly and shrugged.  
"It's been too long since we've had a moment to ourselves." he said softly. "We'll stop in the rooms to change before we get on the road."  
"Good idea, I'm ready to be out of these clothes." she admitted.  
Kaiba smirked at her "Oh, really?"  
"That's not what I meant." she scolded then "But it's not a bad idea."  
The two chuckled and started walking towards the elevators, they had a room reserved for them so they could get ready to leave for the honeymoon. They had wanted to be in more comfortable clothing when they got in the car for the airport.  
Once they had changed and packed their bags for the honeymoon the two slipped away leaving the party still going full swing. They would be back in a week from the honeymoon and then they would be back into the business world with the official grand opening of Kaiba Land. They would host a tournament for the opening to get things kicked off the right way.  
For now though their only concerns were to take care of each other and enjoy some time away from the drama that was taking place lately.


	17. Epilogue Five Years Later

Joey was sitting on the bench in the park with her sketch pad open on her lap as she glanced up occassionally while drawing. She was doing just a regular pencil sketch so she wouldn't need to carry to much with her.  
Beside her on the bench was her husband, Kaiba, whose arm was laying across the back of the bench so he could stroke her arm. He was staring at the children playing in the park and the sandboxes as they ran around squealing.  
"What do you think about Noah?" he asked suddenly.  
"It's a girl." she said glancing up at him.  
"What about the next boy then?" he asked.  
"The next one?" she asked eyes widening. "How many more are you wanting?"  
Kaiba smiled "Two more maybe."  
"Two more after this one?"  
"Why not?"  
Joey sighed shaking her head in shock and she laughed disbelieving.  
"We'll talk about that after this one okay?" she said chuckling. "And I was thinking Kim."  
"Kim Kaiba." he said with a hum. "Not too bad I guess."  
Joey rolled her eyes at him turning her gaze back to the children with a smile. The two children she was watching were their children, Joseph and Serenity Kaiba. Joseph was the older of the two children at four years old and then there was Serenity who was three years old. They were almost seven months along with their third child now and they already knew that it was a girl they were having.  
Kaiba and Joey had agreed that they wanted a large family when they decided they wanted to have kids. They had both been from smaller families and knew they didn't want their kids to feel that secluded.  
Kaiba looked down at the drawing Joey had been working on since they had sat down to see that she had an almost finished picture of the two children playing. It made him smile, since they had been married she had been able to open a small art gallery for her art work but he was still amazed by the things she drew just for them at the house.  
Kaiba looked at their two children with a smile.  
Joseph looked just like Joey with the blond hair and big caramel colored eyes that were always bright. Joseph was the one that was interested in the duel monsters like his parents, he was studying the cards carefully so that he could be the King of Games one day.  
Serenity looked like him, long brown hair with those piercing blue eyes and strict looking face even for how young she was. She had his strict look down pat, the first time he had held her as a baby she had made that face to his surprise.  
Joey and Kaiba were proud of their family.  
Kaiba chuckled, he felt lucky. Almost all of those dreams had ended so poorly for the two but this, this was as close to perfect as he imagined life could get. He was happy and he had a family of his own to take care of now, life was good.


End file.
